The joy of Captain Ribot;

TAEJOY OF
CAPTAINRIBOT

^^"■Tl

A PALACIOVALDES

fi^-j

^

T

PQ

A3!

CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

•H^t^zTc^^x^i^

Cornell University Library
PQ 6629.A31A7 1900

3 1924 027 697 774

The Joy of Captain Ribot

B Cornell University
B Library

The original of tliis book is in
tine Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027697774

THE JOY OF CAPTAm RIBOT

AUTHOKIZED TRANSLATION FROM THE
ORIGINAL OF

A. PALAOIO VALDflS
MINNA CAEOLINB SMITH

NEW YORK

BEENTANO'S

1900

COPYKIGHT, 1900, BV

BBBNTANOS.

X

Introduction

"We Americans are apt to think because we
have banged the Spanish war-ships to pieces that
we are superior to the Spaniards, but here in the
field where there is always peace they shine our
masters. If we have any novelists to compare with
theirs at their best, I should be puzzled to think
of them, and I should like to have some one. else
try" — wrote William Dean Howells in Litera-
ture.

When a work by one of the world's masters of
fiction has called forth a remark like the foregoing
from a leading man of letters in America, it
would be a misfortune if the public to whom the
remark is addressed might not enjoy the privilege
of acquaintance with that work. And it was this
most charming novel by Senor Armando Palacio
Valdes, "La Alegria del Capitan Ribot," that
prompted Mr. Howells to write those words. Any
reader must be hard to please who would not take
the keenest delight in a story presented Avith a
touch so delicate. The scene is laid in Valencia,
one of the earth's famous garden spots, where the
touch of the classic hand, laid upon the spot ages
ago, yet lingers. It is a story dominated by the

Introduction

purest Joy, as its serene Mediterranean landscape
is dominated by the purest sunshine.

Every novelist of character must have some pur-
pose in mind in a given work, and the purpose of
Senor Valdes in this is of no slight import. It
happens that, from an unclean quality that dis-
tinguishes the fiction of a certain nation, the minds
of many lands have been infected. For the almost
universal aim of its authors has seemed to be so
pervasively to color their pictures of life with one
particular kind of sin as to give the impression that
it is a main factor of modern civilization, instead
of something that blots but a small proportion of
the lives of men and women in any land. So,
when Senor Valdes wrote to me, several months
ago, about his new hovel, he said: "It is a protest
from the depths against the eternal adultery of the
French novel." And when I read the book, I
thought that "A Married Woman" would have
been a good name for the story, so nobly and so
truly does it present a type of the true and devoted
wife in Cristina Marti — one of the great creations
in modern literature. The trait that makes Senor
Valdes one of the most eminent of living novelists
is greatness of soul, finding expression as it does in
a consummate mastery of his art. That trait ap-
pears in his " La F6 " as in no other novel that I
know; and in the present story it pervades the
whole work, which, moreover, is clean, sweet, and

Introduction

wholesome in every part. Magnanimity is a word
that somehow implies that greatness of soul derives
itself from greatness of heart, and the magnanimity
of Senor Valdes is of a degree that transcends
limitations of race, of creed, and of patriotism.

He has given evidence that in his catholic sym-
pathies the fact of a common humanity is sufficient
for the inclusion of any man in his brotherly re-
gard. Of such as he the nations as yet count too
few among their sons. And when one of these
speaks, no difference of tongue should be allowed
to bar our listening.

In the same article that has furnished the text
for these remarks, Mr. Howells notes, among the
admirable attributes in which this noble-minded
Spaniard excels, "something very like our own
boasted American humor with some other things
which we cannot lay special claim to; as a certain
sweetness, a gentle spirituality, a love of purity
and goodness in themselves, and an insight into the
workings of what used to be called the soul." As
to the specific qualities of the book before us, I can-
not better express my own sentiments than to con-
tinue in the words of Mr. Howells:

"La Alegria del Capitan Eibot is, as all the
stories of this delightful author are, a novel of
manners, the modern manners of provincial Spain;
and, by the way, while we were spoiling our pros-
trate foe, I wish we could have got some of these.

Introduction

too; they would form an agreeable relief to our
own, which they surpass so much in pieturesque-
nesSj to say the least. The scene is mostly at
Valencia, where Capitan Eibot, who commands a
steamer plying between Barcelona and Hamburg,
is the guest of the civil engineer, Marti. The
novel is, as far as Eibot and his two friends are
concerned, a tender idyll, but on the other side it
is an exquisite comedy, with some fine tragic im-
plications. Around all is thrown the atmosphere
of a civilization so different from our own, and of
a humanity so like the Anglo-Saxon, as well as the
Eussian and the Scandinavian, even, that we find
ourselves charmed at once by its strangeness and
its familiarity. There are the same temptations,
the same aspirations, the same strong desires, the
same trembling resolutions, masking under south-
ern skies and in alien air; but instantly recog-
nizable by their truth to what all men feel and
know."

Mr. Howells has expressed a desire to have Senor
Vald^s for our own. So far as a most intelligently
sympathetic presentation of this beautiful story in
English can do so, I am sure that my friend the
translator has made him so.

SYLVESTER BAXTER.

vm

The Joy of Captain Ribot

The Joy of Captain Ribot

CHAPTER I.

IN" Malaga they cook it not at all badly; in Vigo
better yet; in Bilbao I have eaten it deliciously
seasoned on more than one occasion. But there is
no comparison between any of these, or the way I
have had it served in any of the other ports where I
have been wont to touch, and the cooking of a
Senora Ramona in a certain shop for wines and
edibles called El Cometa, situated on the wharf at
Gijon.

Therefore, when that most iatelligent woman
hears that the TJrano has entered port, she be-
gins to get her stewpans ready for my reception. I
prefer to go alone and at night, like the selfish and
luxurious being that I am. She sets my table for
me in a comer of the back shop; and there, at my
ease, I enjoy pleasures ineffable and have taken
more than one indigestion.

I arrived the 9th of February, at eleven in the
morning, and according to my custom I ate little,
1

The Joy of Captain Ribot

preparing myself by healthful abstinence for the
ceremony of the evening. God willed otherwise.
A little before the striking of the hour a heathen
of a sailor broke a lantern; the burning wick fell
upon a cask of petroleum and started a fire, which
we got the better of by throwing the barrel over-
board with several others. But the pUot-house
was burned, together with much of the rigging and
some of the upper works of the steamer. In short,
the consequences kept us busy and on our feet
nearly all night.

And this was the reason why I did not go to eat
my dish of tripe at the Senora Eamona's, but noti-
fied her, by means of the speaking trumpet, to be
ready for me that evening without fail.

It was about ten o'clock. Peaceful and con-
tented, I descended the ladder of the Urano,
jumped into a boat, and in four strokes of my boat-
man's oars I was taken to the wharf, which stood
deserted and shadowy. The hulls of the vessels
could hardly be made out and absolute silence
reigned on board them. Only the silhouette of
the guards on their rounds or that of some mel-
ancholy-looking passer-by was vaguely outlined in
the gloom. But the obscurity, that the few street-
lamps were insufiicient to dissipate, was soon en-
livened by the wave of light that proceeded from
the two open doorways of El Cometa. I fluttered
away in that direction like an eager butterfly.
2

The Joy of Captain Ribot

There were only three or four customers left in
the shop; the others had departed — some spon-
taneously, some because of intimations, each time
more or less peremptory, given by Senora Eamona,
who always closed up promptly at half after ten.

This woman greeted my appearance with a peal
of laughter. I cannot say what curious and mys-
terious titillation affected her nerves in my pres-
ence; but I can affirm that she never saw me after
an absence more or less prolonged without being
violently shaken by merriment, which in turn in-
evitably resulted in severe attacks of coughing,
inflaming her cheeks and transforming them from
their hue of grainy red to violet. Yet I was pro-
foundly gratified by that peal of laughter and that
attack of coughing, considering them a pledge of
unalterable friendship, and that I could count, in
life and in death, upon her culinary accomplish-
ments. On such occasions it was my duty to double
my spine, shake my head, and laugh boisterously
until Dame Eamona recovered herself. And I
complied therewith religiously.

"Ay, but how good it was yesterday, Don
Julian! "

" And why not to-day? "

"Because yesterday was yesterday, and to-day
is to-day."

Before this invincible reason I grew serious, and
a sigh escaped me. Dame Eamona went oflE in a
3

The Joy of Captain Ribot

fresh fit of laughter, followed by a corresponding
attack of asthmatic coughing. When at last she
recovered herself she finished washing the glass in
her hands, and called to three or four sailors chat-
ting in a corner:

" Come, up with you! I am going to lock up."

One of them ventured to say:

"Wait a bit. Dame Eamona. We'll go when
that gentleman does."

The hostess, frowning grimly, volunteered in
solemn accents:

" This gentleman has come to eat some stewed
tripe, and the table is set for him."

Thereupon the customers, feeling the weight of
this hint, and comprehending the gravity of the
occasion, lost no time in rising to depart. Gazing
at me for an instant with a mixture of respect and
admiration they went out, wishing us good-night.

" Well, Don Julian! " exclaimed Dame Eamona,
her face brightening again, " that tripe of yesterday
fairly was of a kind to make one's mouth water with
delight."

My face must have expressed the most profound
despair.

" And that of to-day — won't it do anything? " I
inquired in tones of woe.

" To-day — to-day — ^you will see for yourself."

She waved her fat hand in a way calculated to
leave me submerged in a sea of doubt.
4

The Joy of Captain Ribot

While she was giving the last touches to her
work, I took some absinthe to prepare my stomach
adequately for its task, at the same time medi-
tating upon the serious words that I had heard.

Would it, or would it not, be so well seasoned,
piquant, and aromatic as my imagination depicted?

But when I had seated myself at the table; when
I saw the dish before me and felt its bland fra-
grance penetrating my nostrils, a ray of light illu-
mining my brain dissipated that dark spectral
doubt. My heart began to palpitate with inex-
plicable pleasure. I comprehended that the gods
still held in reserve some moments of happiness
in this world.

Dame Eamona divined the emotion that over-
powered my soul, and smUed with maternal benevo-
lence.

"What's that. Dame Eamona?" I exclaimed,
pausing with my fork held motionless in the air.
"Did you hear it?"

" Yes, sefior; I heard a scream."

"It called 'Help!'"

" Out on the wharf."

" Another scream! "

I threw down the fork and rushed to the door,
followed by my hostess. When I opened it I heard
a sound of incoherent lamentation.

"My mother! Help! For God's sake! She is
drowning! "

5

The Joy of Captain Ribot

In two jumps I leaped over the rampart between
me and the wharf, and made out the figure of a
woman waving her arms convulsively and uttering
piteous screams.

I saw what had happened, and, running to her,
I asked:

"Who has fallen in?"

" My mother! Save her! Save her! "

"Where?"

"Here!"

And she pointed out the narrow space in the
water between a lighter and the wharf.

Although narrow, it was too wide for me to reach
the craft. I plucked up courage, however, and
sprang for the rigging rather than the deck, man-
aging to grasp a cable. In this way I dropped to
the deck. Seizing the first rope I came across, I
made it fast and slid down to the water's edge.
Happily, the woman had also grasped the rope and
so kept herself afloat. When I got to her I en-
deavored to seize her by the head. But only a wig
remained in my hand! I made another attempt,
and this time caught her arm. I drew her to the
side of the vessel. Then I saw that it would be
impossible to get her out without help. How could
I climb the rope with one hand only? Fortunately
the cries of the daughter, together with my own,
aroused the crew of a lighter, composed of four
sailors, and they easily got us out. There were
6

The Joy of Captain Ribot

some planks at hand, and so we reached the wharf
with her and took her to an apothecary's near by,
where she was at last restored to consciousness.

While the apothecary was attending her, the
daughter, pale and silent, bent over her, her face
bathed with tears. She was a young lady of good
stature, slender, pale, her hair black and wavy; her
whole personality, if not of supreme beauty, at-
tractive and interesting. She was dressed with
elegance, her mother also; and I inferred that they
were persons distinguished in the town. But one
of the throng that had pressed into the shop in-
formed me that they were strangers, and had been
but a few days in Grijon.

When I found that she was neither dead nor hurt
to any serious extent, and feeling the chill of the
bath penetrating me and making me shiver, I
wished them good-night.

The young lady raised her head, came towards
me with animation, and seizing my hands cordially,
looked into my eyes with tearful earnestness, and
murmured with emotion:

" Thank you, thank you, senor! I shall never
forget this!"

I gave her to understand that my service de-
served no thanks; that anybody in my place would
have done the same, as I sincerely thought. The
only real sacrifice that I had made was that of the
stewed tripe; but I did not say this, very naturally.
7

The Joy of Captain Ribot

When I reached the steamer and got into my
room I felt so chilled that I feared a heavy cold,
if not pneumonia. But I ruhbed myself energetic-
ally with alcohol and wrapped myself so warmly in
my bed that I wakened as usual in the morning,
healthy and lively, and in excellent humor.

CHAPTER 11.

WHEN I had dressed myself, and after I had
complied with my ordinary duties and
looked after the carpenters repairing the damages
from the fire, I thought of the lady who had been
on the point of drowning the night before. In
strict truth, the one whom I thought of was the
daughter. Those eyes were of the kind that neither
can be, nor should be, forgotten. And with the
vague hope of seeing them again I went ashore and
directed my steps towards the apothecary's.

The druggist informed me that they were stop-
ping at the Iberia. So I went to ask about the
lady's condition.

" Is it necessary that you should see them? " the
chambermaid asked me.

That was my desire, but I hardly ventured to say
so. I told her it was not necessary, but I should
like to know how they had passed the night. I
was told that Dona Amparo (the old lady) had
rested fairly well and that the doctor, who had
just gone, found her better than he had expected.
Dona Cristina (the young lady) was perfectly well.
I left my card and went down stairs somewhat de-

The Joy of Captain Ribot

pressed. But I had no sooner reached the street
floor than the chambermaid came after me and
asked me to come back, saying that the ladies
wished to see me.

Dona Cristina came out into the corridor to
meet me. She wore an elegant morning-gown of a
violet color, and her black hair was half -imprisoned
by a white cap with violet ribbons. Her eyes were
beaming with delight and she held out her hand
most cordially.

" Good morning, Captain. Why were you avoid-
ing the thanks we wished to give you? I had just
finished a letter to you in which I expressed, if not
all the gratitude we feel, at least a part. But it is
better that you have come — and yet the letter was
not wholly bad! " she added, smiling. " Although
you may not believe it, we women are more elo-
quent with the pen than with the tongue."

She took me into a parlor where there was an
alcove whose glazed doors were shut.

"Mamma," she called, "here is the gentleman
who saved you, the captain of the Urano.'"

I heard a melancholy murmuring, something like
suppressed sighing and sobbing, with words be-
tween that I could not make out. I questioned
the daughter with my eyes.

" She says that she regrets extremely having
caused you to risk your life."

I replied in a loud tone that I had run no danger
10

The Joy of Captain Ribot

at all; but even if I had, I was simply doing my
duty.

Again there proceeded from the alcove various
confused sounds.

" She tells me to give you a tablespoonful of
orange-flower extract."

" What for? " I exclaimed in surprise.

" She thinks that you also must have sustained
a shock," explained Dona Cristina, laughing.
" Mamma uses that remedy a great deal, and
makes us all take it too. Just tell her that you
are going to take it, and it will please her im-
mensely."

Before I could recover from my astonishment
I did as Dona Cristina requested, and was imme-
diately rewarded with a murmur of approval.

" I have Just given it to him, mamma," she an-
nounced, darting a mischievous glance at me.
" Now you may feel at ease! "

"Many thanks, senora," I called out. "I be-
lieve it will do me good, for I was feeling a bit
nervous."

Dona Cristina pressed my hand and struggled to
keep from laughing. She said in a low voice:

" Bravo! You are on the way to become a con-
summate actor."

The strange and unintelligible sounds renewed
themselves.

" She asks if you have telegraphed to your wife,
11

The Joy of Captain Ribot

and advises you not to do so, as it might frighten
her."

" I have no wife. I am a bachelor."

" Then to your mother," Dona Cristina had the
goodness to interpret.

"I have no mother, either; nor father, nor
brothers or sisters. I am alone in the world."

Dona Amparo, so far as I could understand,
showed herself surprised and displeased at my lone
condition, and invited me to change it without
loss of time. She also added that a man like me
was destined to make any woman happy. I do not
know what qualities of a husband the lady could
have observed in me, except facility in grasping
and sliding down a cable. I responded that surely
I desired nothing else; but up to now no occasion
had presented itself. My life as a mariner, to-day
in one place, to-morrow in another, the shyness of
men like me who do not frequent society, and even
the fact that I had not met a woman who really
interested me — all this had impeded its realization.

While saying this I fixed my gaze upon the smil-
ing eyes of Dona Cristina.

A sweet and fanciful thought thereupon came
into my head.

"Let us change the subject, mamma. Every-
one follows his own pleasure, and if the Captain
has not married it must be, of course, because he
has not cared to."

13

The Joy of Captain Ribot

"Exactly," said I, smiling, and gazing at her
fixedly, " I have not cared to marry up to the pres-
ent, but I cannot say that I may not care to some
day when least looked for."

" Meanwhile we wish that you may be happy;
that you may get a very handsome wife and a half-
dozen plump children — lively and mischievous."

" Amen," I exclaimed.

The frankness and graciousness of the young
lady were spontaneously attractive. I felt as much
at ease with her as if I had known her for years. She
invited me to seat myself on the sofa, seating her-
self there also, speaking low that her mother might
rest, for the doctor had said that she had better not
talk.

I asked for the detaUs of her mother's condition,
and was told that she had suffered a slight con-
tusion on the shoulder, which the doctor had said
was of little account. He had also overcome the
ill effects of the chill. The only thing to be feared
was the nervous shock. Her mamma was very
nervous; her heart troubled her, and nobody could
say what might be the consequences of that terrible
shock. I did my best to assuage her fears. Then
to make conversation, I asked her if they were
Asturians, although knowing that they were not,
both from what the doctor had said, and because of
their accent.

" No, senor, we are Valencianas."
13

The Joy of Captain Ribot

"Eeally? Valencianas?" I exclaimed. "Then
we are almost compatriots! I was born in Ali-
cante."

So we continued the talk in Valencian, with
pleasure unspeakable on my part, and I think also
on her part. She told me that they had been in
Gijon only nine days, having come to visit a nun
who was her mother's sister. They had had this
intention for years, and had never carried it into
effect before, on accoimt of the length and dis-
comfort of the journey. At last they had under-
taken it, but unfortunately, it seemed, for it had
nearly cost her mother her life. They were pleased
with the country, although it seemed rather dull
in comparison with their own.

" Valencia! " I exclaimed with ardor, " I
who have visited the most remote regions of the
earth and have been on so many diverse shores,
have never found anything comparable to that
land. There the sun does not rise in blood, as it
does in the North, nor scorch as in Andalusia; its
light is gently diffused in balmy and tranquil air.
The sea does not terrify as it does here; it is bluer
and its foam is whiter and lighter. There the birds
sing with notes more dulcet and varied; there the
breeze caresses at night as by day; there the de-
licious fruits, that in other parts are in season only
in the heat of summer, are enjoyed the year around;
there not only the flowers and the herbs have scent,
14

The Joy of Captain Ribot

the earth itself exhales a delicate aroma. There life
is not sad and weary. Everything is gentle, every-
thing serene and harmonious. And the tranquil-
lity of Nature seems to be reflected in the profound
gaze of the Valencian women."

That of Dona Cristina, which was the most gen-
tle and profound I had ever seen, sparkled with a
certain mischievous delight.

" Who would think, hearing you talk, that you
were a sea- wolf! You speak like a poet. I am
almost tempted to believe that you have con-
tributed verses to the periodicals."

" Oh, no! " I exclaimed, laughing. " I am an
inoffensive poet. I never write either verses or
prose; but you will pardon me for saying that those
eyes of yours revived in my memory various beauti-
ful things, all Valencian, and the poetry went to
my head."

Dona Cristina appeared to remain in suspense
for a moment; she regarded me with more curi-
osity than gratification, and changing the con-
versation she asked graciously:

"And the steamer that you are commanding —
does she go to America? "

" Only once in a while. Usually we run between
Barcelona and Hamburg."

" And your stop here is for several days? "

" Just long enough to repair the damages from a
little fire on board, day before yesterday."
15

The Joy of Captain Ribot

On my part, I asked how long they proposed to
remained in Grijon.

" We had been thinking of leaving the day after
to-morrow and stopping some days in Madrid,
where we expected to meet my husband; but now
it is necessary to postpone going on account of what
has happened. At all events, as soon as my mother
has completely recovered herself and the doctor
gives permission, we shall start."

I must confess it although it may seem ridiculous
— that "my husband" produced a strange sensa-
tion of chill and discouragement in me that I could
scarcely succeed in hiding. How the devil had it
not occurred to me that the young lady might be
married? I cannot account for it to this day.
And conceding it to be the case, why should the
information cause such a bitter emotion when it
concerned a person whom I was only just beginning
to be acquainted with? I cannot account for that
either. I am tempted to believe in the truth of
what happens in the old comedies when the gallant
is fired with love at first sight of the lady. If I was
not on fire, at least I had on board all the materials
for the fire.

Nevertheless, reason soon asserted its supremacy.
I comprehended the absurdity and the ridiculous
character of my sensations, and, calming myself,
I asked about her husband with natural and
friendly interest. She told me that he was called
16

The Joy of Captain Ribot

Emilio Marti, and was one of the partners in the
shipping house of Castell and Marti, whose
steamers run to Liverpool. Moreover, he had vari-
ous other lines of business, for he was an active
and enterprising man. They had been married
only two years.

" And you have no family ? "

" Not as yet," she responded, blushing slightly.

She went on to tell me that they were both
born in Valencia, where they had always lived;
through the winter in the city, Calle del Mar; in the
summer time at their villa in Cabanal.

I knew several of the Castell and Marti steamers.
I spoke of my satisfaction in placing myself at the
service of the wife of one of their owners.

We talked a little longer. I was downcast and
felt a desire to go. I managed to take my leave,
but not without another dialogue with Dona Am-
paro with closed doors and an interpreter. On
reaching the street my unfounded and even ir-
rational depression was soon dissipated, as I talked
with acquaintances and went about my affairs. But
all through the day the figure of Dona Cristina
was constantly present to my imagination. I adore
women who a^ e slender and white, with great black
eyes. My friends used to tell me once that in order
to suit my taste a woman must be in the last stage
of phthisis. They were not far from right. My
only love had been a consumptive, and she died
2 17

The Joy of Captain Ribot

when all the preparations were made for our
marriage.

The next day I held it to be in the line of my
duty to go to the hotel to inquire about the ladies.
Dona Cristina asked me in and received me with
even greater cordiality, putting her finger to her
lips and asking me to speak in whispers like her-
self, for her mother was sleeping. We seated our-
selves on the sofa and chatted in low but lively
tones. Dona Amparo was well, and required noth-
ing but attention.

" Moreover (I will tell you in confidence), until
they have finished her wig she will not show herself
outside her room."

" Ah, the wig! Yes, I remember now."

" Yes, you remember that you tore it off, wicked
one! " she replied, laughing.

"Senora, it was impossible to foresee! It is
fortunate that I did not tear her head from her
body."

We both laughed heartily, forcing ourselves at
the same time to laugh noiselessly. A moment
later she said, in a way so natural that it pleased me
immensely:

" I am hungry, captain, and am going to have
some breakfast. Will you not join me?"

I thanked her and excused myself. But as I
could not say that I had breakfasted she said that
of course I must breakfast with her, and went out
18

The Joy of Captain Ribot

to give some orders. I felt delighted, and even if
I should say enthusiastic it would not be an un-
truth. While the maid was getting the table ready
in the room where we were, we continued our chat,
our mutual confidence steadily growing. All
through the breakfast she treated me with a cor-
diality so frank and hospitable that it quite
charmed me. She cut bread and meat for me with
her own hands and poured out wine and water.
AVhen I wanted a dish or a plate, with provincial
simplicity she would jump up and take it from the
sideboard without waiting for the maid.

I told her jestingly of the grave occupation in
which her cries had surprised me the night of the
accident. She laughed heartily and promised to
make it up to me when I came to Valencia, by cook-
ing a paella for me by all the rules of the art.

" Not that I have the mad presumption of ex-
pecting to make you forget the tripe of Senora
Eamona. I shall be satisfied if you eat a couple of
platefuls."

"Why a couple? I perceive with sadness that
you take me for a gross and material being. I
hope to show you, in the course of time, that apart
from these hours of tripe and snails, I am a man
naturally spiritually-minded, poetic, and even, to
some extent, delicate."

She ridiculed this, piling up my plate in most
scandalous style, inviting me not to dissimulate
19

The Joy of Captain Ribot

my true condition, but to eat as if she were not
present.

" Do not think of my being a lady. Fancy your-
self breakfasting with a companion — ^the pilot, for
instance."

" I have not sufficient imagination for that. The
pilot is squint-eyed and lacks two teeth."

This lively and intimate chat intoxicated me
more than the Bordeaux that she poured for me
without ceasing. And her eyes intoxicated me
more than the wine or the chat. Although we
talked in whispers and checked our laughter, occa-
sionally there escaped me an indiscreet note. Dona
Cristina raised her finger to her lips. " Silence,
Captain, or I shall have to sentence you to the
corridor before you have half breakfasted."

She asked me to tell her something about my life.
I gratified her curiosity, relating my history, which
was simple enough. We discussed the pleasures of
a sailor's life, which she thought superior to those
of any other.

" I adore the sea, but the sea of my home above
all. Here it makes me afraid and sad. If you
could see how often I go to the window of our villa
at Cabanal to look at it! "

" But in Valencia I prefer the women to the sea,"
I remarked, having reached too lively a stage.

"I can believe it," she responded, smiling.
" Oh, they are very beautiful. I have a little cousin
20

The Joy of Captain Ribot

named Isabel who is truly perfection. What eyes
that child has! "

" Are they more beautiful than yours? " I asked
presumptuously.

" Oh, mine are of no account/' she answered with
a blush.

" Of no account? " I questioned with astonish-
ment. " Indeed, there are no others so bewitching
on all this eastern coast, among all the beautiful
ones that there abound. They are two stars of
heaven! They are a happy dream from which one
would never wish to awake! "

She instantly became serious. She kept silence
for a while, without raising her eyes from the table-
cloth. Then she said with an affected indifference,
not free from severity:

"You have breakfasted fairly well, have you
not? But on board the food is better than at
hotels."

I kept silent for a while, in turn. Without
responding to her question, after a moment I said:

" Pardon me. We sailors express ourselves too
frankly. We are not versed in etiquette, but our
intentions must excuse us. Mine were not to say
anything impertinent."

She was immediately mollified, and we continued
our chat with the same cordiality until the end of
the breakfast.

81

CHAPTER III.

I WENT back to the ship in a worse state than
that of the day before. The lady occupied my
thoughts more than was desirable for content or
peace of mind. I went back again that afternoon
and again the next day. Her interesting figure,
her eyes — so black, so innocent, and so piquant at
the same time, were rapidly penetrating my soul.
And as always happens in such cases, her eyes first
began to please me and then her voice began to
enchant me; soon it was her fine hands, like ala-
baster; a little after that the soft veil of hair that
adorned her temples; immediately thereupon, three
little dimples in her right cheek. At last I found
happiness in a certain defective way she had of
pronouncing the letter E.

These and other discoveries of like importance
could not be made, it is evident, without due at-
tention, all of which, instead of pleasing the lady,
annoyed her visibly. She always received me
cordially, but not with her former frankness of
manner. I observed, not without pain, that in
spite of the gayety and animation of her conversa-
tion she revealed a bit of disquiet in the depths,
33

The Joy of Captain Ribot

as if fearing that I might again say something un-
welcome. While comprehending this, nevertheless
I had not the force of will to stop gazing at her
more than I should.

At last the wig was brought in secret to the
hotel. Dona Amparo tried it on in the most abso-
lute privacy; she found it imperfect. It was re-
turned to the hands of its maker; various changes
were effected in it without either the public or the
authorities becoming aware of the fact, and after
various trials equally secret the good lady emerged
as fresh and juvenile as if my sinful hands had
never attacked her charms. For in spite of all —
that is, ia spite of the wig, of years, and of obesity
— Dona Amparo had not completely lost her
charms.

They invited me to take a drive with them
through the environs of the city. The pleasure
with which I accepted may be imagined. On
reaching the country we alighted, and for an hour
we feasted our eyes upon that smiling and splendid
landscape. I found myself happy, and this happi-
ness incited me to show towards Dona Cristina
great deference and gentleness of speech. I felt
impelled to say to her everything beautiful and in-
teresting that occurred to me. But she, as if
divining these perverse tendencies of my tongue,
curbed it with tact and firmness, asking me some
indifferent question whenever there seemed to be
23

The Joy of Captain Ribot

any danger of my uttering something indiscreet,
leaving me with her mamma while she went on
ahead, or taking pains to make her mother talk.
This did not dishearten me. I was so stupid, or so
indiscreet, that in spite of these clear signals I still
persisted in seeking pretexts for directing various
whifEs of incense towards her. I declare, however,
that I did not think I was acting the gallant. I be-
lieved in good faith that such obsequiousness and
such flatteries were legitimate; for we Spaniards
from remote antiquity have arrogated to ourselves
the right of telling all pretty women that they are
pretty, without other consequences. But she cast
doubts upon the correctness of such a proceeding.
That these doubts were not ill-founded I see clearly
enough, now that the mist of my sentiments has
been completely dissipated and I read my soul as
in an open book.

It chanced that that same afternoon, on our way
back to the city, seeing the numerous and hand-
some country houses that we passed. Dona Cristina
remarked:

" Our place at Cabanal is very charming, but not
sumptuous. My husband is not satisfied with it;
he wants something better."

"He wants something better?" I cried without
stopping to think. " But if I were your husband,
I could desire nothing! "

The lady kept silence for a moment, turned her
24

The Joy of Captain Ribot

face towards the window to look at the road, and
murmured ironically, —

" Well, sir; let us have patience."

I believe that not only my cheeks, my forehead,
and my ears turned scarlet, but even the whites of
my eyes. For several minutes I felt on my face
the impression of two red-hot bricks. I did not
know what to say, and seeking escape from my
embarrassment I turned to the other window and
remained ia ecstatic contemplation of the land-
scape. Dona Amparo, who had remarked nothing,
spoke in response to her daughter's observation:

"Emilio is a very good man, very industrious,
although somewhat fantastic."

"How is he fantastic?" exclaimed Cristina,
turning sharply, as if struck. " Because he desires
what is better, more beautiful, and seeks to acquire
it? That shows rather his good taste and good
will. For if the world did not have men who as-
pired to perfection, who always see a ' farther on '
and who take steps to approach it, neither these
handsome country houses nor others still better,
nor any of the comforts that we enjoy to-day would
exist. The idlers, the spendthrifts, and the poor in
spirit ridicule such ideas so long as they are not
realized; but when the hour comes that the ends
aimed at can be seen and touched, they shut them-
selves up in their houses and refuse to congratulate
those who made it possible because they do not
25

The Joy of Captain Ribot

care to confess their stupidity. Then you know-
well that Emilio, however 'fantastic/ has never
had the fantasy to think of himself; that all his
efforts are devoted to give pleasure and prosperity
to his family, to his friends, and to his neighhors,
and that all his life up to now has been a constant
sacrifice for others."

Dona Amparo, during this vehement discourse,
showed herself strangely affected. I was aston-
ished to see her stammer, rub her eyes, grow red in
the face, and fall backward as if in a swoon.

"I — is it possible? — my son! "

Uttering these incoherent words, she swayed,
then seemed to lose all sense of the external world.
To restore her to consciousness it was necessary for
her daughter to bathe her temples with eau de
Cologne and apply sal-volatile to her nostrils. When
at last she opened her eyes there burst forth a flood
of tears that flowed down her cheeks and poured
into her lap like a copious rain, some of which
moistened my coat. At these symptoms Dona
Cristina again opened the little satchel that she
carried, that I could see contained numerous little
flasks. She took one of these, together with a
lump of sugar, and moistened the latter with several
drops of liquid. She thrust the sugar into her
mother's mouth; that lady gradually recovered her
senses and at last was conscious of her whereabouts
and of who was with her.
36

The Joy of Captain Ribot

On my part, being the indirect cause of the un-
fortunate scene, I understood that nothing would
be more suitable than for me to throw myself out of
the carriage window, even though I should fracture
my head; but imagining that the results of such a
procedure might be too melancholy, I hit upon a
decorous substitute by biting at the head of my
cane and staring into vacancy. Dona Cristina did
not choose to take cognizance of these tragic mani-
festations, but they so penetrated the heart of her
mamma that the latter seized my hands convul-
sively, murmuring occasionally:

"Eibot! Eibot! Ribot!"

Fearing that she might again enter into the
world of the unconscious, I hastened to take the
flask of salts and hold it to her nose.

The rest of the way back, heaven be praised! was
traversed without further mishap, and I made des-
perate efforts to have my foolishness forgotten and
forgiven, talking with all formality about various
things, principally of those most to the taste of
Dona Cristina. At length I was rewarded by see-
ing her bright face again unclouded and her eyes
expressing their accustomed frank Joyousness.
And, prompted by her humor, she even went so
far as to make gracious fun of her mamma.

"Did you know, Captain Eibot, that mamma
never swoons except when she is with the family,
or among persons in whom she confides? The
27

The Joy of Captain Ribot

greatest proof of the sympathy with which you in-
spire her is that which she has just given."

" Cristina! Cristina! " exclaimed Dona Amparo,
half smUing, half indignant.

"Now, be frank, mamma! If Captain Ribot
has not won your confidence, how is it you ven-
tured to faint away in his presence? "

,Dona Amparo decided to laugh, giving her
daughter a pinch. When we parted at the hotel
door they invited me to breakfast with them the
next day, they having decided to leave for Madrid
on the day after that.

It could no longer be doubted; if I was not in
love I was on the'way to be, with a fair wind and all
sails set. Why was it that this woman had im-
pressed me so profoundly in so short a time? I do
not think it was merely her figure, although it
coincided with the ideal type of beauty that I had
always adored. If I had fallen in love with all the
white and slender women with dark eyes that I had
met in the course of my life, there would not have
remained any time to do anything else. But she
had a special attractiveness, at least for me, which
consisted in a singular combination of joyousness
and gravity, of sweetness and brusqueness, of dar-
ing and timidity, alternately reflected in her ex-
pressive countenance.

The next day, at the appointed time, I presented
myself at the hotel. Dona Cristina was in most
28

The Joy of Captain Ribot

delightful humor and let me know that we were to
breakfast alone, for her mother had not slept well
the night before and was still in bed. This filled
me with selfish satisfaction, observing her merry
mood. Before going to the table she served me an
appetizer, graciously ridiculing me.

" Since you always have such a delicate appetite,
and look so languishing, I have ordered something
bitter for you, to see if we cannot give a little tone
to that stomach of yours."

I fell in with the jest.

"I am in despair. I comprehend that it is
ridiculous to have such a ready appetite, but I am
a man of honor and I confess it. One time when I
attempted to conceal it I missed my reckoning.
One of my passengers was a certain very charming
and spirituelle lady towards whom I felt somewhat
favorably disposed. I could think of no better
means to inspire her interest than to feign an ab-
solute lack of appetite, naturally accompanied by
languor and poetic melancholy. At table I re-
fused the greater part of the dishes. My nourish-
ment consisted of tapioca, vanilla cream, some
fruit, and much coffee. Then I complained of
weakness, and ordered glasses of sherry with biscuit.
Of course I suffered terribly from hunger; but I
overcame it finely in solitude. The lady became
enthusiastic; she professed for me a profound and
sincere admiration, and despised for their grossness
29

The Joy of Captain Ribot

all those at the table who were served with more
solid nutriment. But, alas! there came a mo-
ment when she xmexpectedly came down into the
dining-saloon and surprised me feasting on cold
ham. That ended the affair. She never spoke
another word to me."

" She did right," said Dona Cristina, with a
laugh. "Hypocrisy is something more shameful
than a good appetite."

We began our breakfast, and I gave her to under-
stand that now that she so abhorred hypocrisy
I proposed to proceed with all possible frank-
ness.

"That is right! Entirely frank!" And she
served me an enormous ration of omelette.

We went on chatting and laughing in under-
tones, but Dona Cristina did not neglect to serve
me with fabulous quantities of food, greater, in
truth, than my gastric capacity. I wanted to de-
cline, but she would not permit it.

" Be frank. Captain! You have promised to be
entirely frank."

"Senora, this surpasses frankness. Anybody
might call it grossness."

" I do not call it so. Go on! Go on! "

But soon, straightening herself back iu her chair
a bit, and assuming a solemn tone, she spoke:

" Captain, I am now going to treat you as if you
had not only saved my mother's life, but mine as
30

The Joy of Captain Ribot

well. At one and the same time I wish to pay you
for her life and my own."

My eyes opened widely without my comprehend-
ing the significance of such words. Dona Cristina
rose from her chair and, going to the door, opened
it wide. There appeared the maid with a big dish
of stewed tripe in her hands.

" Tripe! " I exclaimed.

" Stewed by Senora Eamona," proclaimed Dona
Cristina, gravely.

The Joke put me in better humor yet. But how
short was the duration of that intoxicating delight!
When we reached the dessert she informed me, per-
fectly naturally:

"I have news for you. We are not going to-
morrow. My husband is coming for us the day
after."

"Yes?" I exclaimed, with the expression of a
man who is forced to talk under a shower bath.

" Although the Journey is a bit uncomfortable,
coming and going again at once, he says that as
mamma has probably not yet completely recovered
from her shock he does not like to have us travel
alone."

Saying this, she took the letter from her pocket
and proceeded to look it over. " He also tells me to
give you a million thanks and is glad that he is to
have a chance to give them to you in person."

I was looking at the back of the letter, but I
31

The Joy of Captain Ribot

caught the words of the ending: " Adios, life of my
soul," and it augmented the sadness of my mood.
However, I expressed my satisfaction at the pros-
pect of knowing Senor Marti so soon, but it re-
quired some effort to say so. As melancholy be-
gan to take possession of me, and as Dona Cris-
tina was not slow in perceiving the fact, I found no
better means of combating it than to take more
cognac after my coffee than was prudent. This
produced an exaltation that resembled, without
being, Joyousness. I chattered away, and must
have uttered many ridiculous things and some of
them wide of the mark, although I cannot remem-
ber. Dona Cristina smiled benevolently. But
when, for the fifth or sixth time, I took the de-
canter to pour out another thimbleful, she touched
my arm, sayiag:

" You are already exceedingly frank. Captain. I
will free you from your word."

" I am its slave, senora, at the cost of my life," I
replied, laughingly. " But I will drink no more.
I am resolved to obey you in this, as in everything
you may command. But nevertheless," I con-
tinued, looking boldly into her eyes, "there are
things that intoxicate more than cognac and all
spirituous beverages."

Dona Cristina's eyes fell and her fair face
frowned. But instantly smiling, she said viva-
ciously:

32

The Joy of Captain Ribot

"But you must not intoxicate yourself in any
fashion. I abhor drunkards."

I did not wish to follow this advice; and though
it is true I drank little more, I insisted upon gazing
at the fascinating lady. I continued chatting like
a dentist, and in the midst of my prattle I came
near giving utterance to more than one endearing
phrase; but Dona Cristina, ingeniously and pru-
dently, cut these ofE before I had a chance to say
them.

We both rose from our seats. We went to the
balcony to look at the tra£6.e and movement on the
wharf. With her permission, I was smoking a
Havana cigar. As her beautiful head occupied my
thoughts more than the traffic on the wharf, I
noted that a little shell comb was falling out of her
hair.

" If I were this little comb I should be very eon-
tent with my place. I would make no effort to
escape."

And boldly, with no thought of what I did, I
raised my hand to her head and put the comb back
in place.

She turned as red as a cherry, her eyes fell, and
she remained silent for several seconds; at last,
looking me in the face with a lofty expression, she
said in a changed tone:

" Senor, I do not know what motive induces you
to take any liberties with me. The service you
8 33

The Joy of Captain Ribot

have rendered us entitles you to my gratitude, but
not to treat me without respect."

My semi-intoxieation was dissipated as by magic.
It left me petrified and ashamed as I had never be-
fore been in my life and never expect to be again,
and I scarcely had power to murmur a few
words of excuse. I believe she did not hear them.
She turned her back disdainfully and left the room.

In about one moment afterwards there flashed
through my mind an idea that did not lack a cer-
tain probability, that is to say, that I was super-
fluous in that place. And without waiting to ex-
amine it with sufficient attention in the light of
reasonable and serious criticism, I put it immedi-
ately in practice, taking my hat and removing my-
self before any grass had a chance to grow under
my feet.

Though I was on shipboard and in the con-
signee's office and in other parts of the city, shame
did not quit me all day long. It was fastened to
my face with a red seal and I was unspeakably
mortified. My friends laughed and murmured
such words as " Martel tres estrellas," " Jamaica,"
" Anis del Mono," and others which sounded like
marks of liquors, but I knew what ailed me, and
this increased my woe. On the next day, after
washing and scrubbing myself energetically with
soap, it seemed as if there were some bits of that
red seal still adhering to my skin.
34

The Joy of Captain Ribot

Of course I did all I could to forget Dona Cris-
tina and her so holy name, and seemed to succeed
throughout the day. But at night her image
would not leave my couch for a moment; it
twitched my feet, it pulled my hair, and later, to
make it up to me for these shocking tribulations,
it gently inclined itself towards me and lightly
touched my cheek with its lips.

On awaking, a luminous idea attacked me.
Marti was to arrive that day, and it was my unavoid-
able duty to go to meet him at the station: first,
for courtesy's sake; second, to prevent his asking
for me, and thereby causing his wife any agitation;
third, because my absence would surprise Dona
Amparo; fourth, because it was necessary not to
reveal what had occurred; fifth — I do not know
what the fifth reason was, but I have an idea that
there was a fifth reason and that it had something
to do with the mad desire that I felt to see Dona
Cristina agaia.

The mail train arrived in the afternoon. I there-
fore had sufiicient time to think over the bother of
such a step and to change my purpose. But after
considering it in all its aspects and then consider-
ing it again and making infinite efforts for heaven
to touch my heart, I still did not repent, and my
feet conducted me to the station almost in spite of
myself.

On reaching the platform I saw my ladies talking
35

The Joy of Captain Ribot

with an employee. Availing myself of the pro-
digious diplomatic aptitude with which heaven had
been so good as to favor me, I passed along behind
them at a slow pace and profoundly absorbed in
the contemplation of a pile of beets.

"Eibot! Eibot!"

I stopped, fQled with astonishment. I turned
my head to the southeast, then to the north, next
to the northeast, and so on successively towards
all the points of the compass untU, after many un-
fruitful efforts, I succeeded in locating the direc-
tion from which the voice proceeded.

" Oh, senoras! "

I approached them, overflowing with astonish-
ment, and seized the hand of Dona Amparo. I
started to do likewise with Cristina and — did I not
say before that this lady was distinguished by a
white skin? The statement must be corrected. At
that moment she might have been born in Senegal.

I asked for her health without venturing to ex-
tend my hand, and she responded, looking in an-
other direction.

"How is this. Captain Eibot?" asked Dona
Amparo. " All day yesterday you did not come,
or to-day either."

I excused myself, saying I had been occupied.

Dona Amparo would not accept my explanation

and talked to me fondly. This lady showed herself

constantly more affectionate and amiable towards

36

The Joy of Captain Ribot

me. While we were talking, Dona Cristina did not
open her lips. I felt hurt and confused. I did not
venture to look her in the face, but observed her
from the corner of my eye and noted that her face,
instead of recovering its ordinary aspect, became
more and more cloudy. Her eyes persisted in
gazing in the opposite direction from where I
stood.

Dona Amparo, not remarking anything, monopo-
lized the conversation. On my part, I spoke little
and incoherently. My having come at all was
weighing me down fearfully, and I had an impulse
to leave under some pretext, without awaiting the
arrival of Marti. But before I could make up my
mind the station-guard sounded his trumpet an-
nouncing the train. So it was no longer possible
to go without grave discourtesy.

The train came into the station, and among the
goodly number of heads that suddenly showed
themselves at the car windows the eyes of Dona
Cristina discovered that of her husband.

"Emilio! " she cried joyfully.

" Cristina! " he replied in a like tone.

And without waiting for the train to come to a
full stop he leaped out and embraced and kissed
her effusively. But she, blushing like a school-
girl, and at the same time smiling with pleasure,
brusquely freed herself from his arms.

"Always the same!" he exclaimed, laughing
37

The Joy of Captain Ribot

heartily, as he extended his hand to his mother-
in-law.

She, however, was not satisfied with his hand and
seized him by the head like a child and kissed him
repeatedly, asking with hearty interest about his
journey as he inquired about her health.

While they were talking I maintained a respect-
ful distance from the group. And then it was that
Dona Cristina turned her eyes towards me with a
friendly smile, at the same time beckoning me to
approach. That unexpected smile caused me such
pleasure and surprise that I could scarcely hide
my feelings. I hastened to obey.

" He saved mamma! " she said, with a little
emphasis, presenting me to her husband.

He grasped my hands affectionately, expressing
boundless thanks. He was a man of twenty-eight
or thirty years, tall, slender, pale-faced and black-
eyed, his beard also black, silky, and abundant; a
Levantine type, like his wife — ^but delicate and
fragile, at least in appearance.

" Thanks to his bravery, we are not mourning a
misfortune to-day," continued the lady.

" Sefiiora! " I exclaimed, " the action was of no
merit whatever. Any passing sailor would have
done the same."

But she, paying no attention, went on to relate
what happened with all details, exaggerating my
conduct.

38

The Joy of Captain Ribot

This panegyric from her mouth, after what had
happened, caused me more shame than pleasure.
I felt the pangs of remorse, and what at first had
seemed to me a slight imprudence now appeared
a lack of delicacy.

Eeturning to the town I left them at the hotel
door, refusing to stop with them, in spite of Martl's
insistence. In these first moments the presence of
a stranger might be unwelcome. But I agreed to
take coffee with him that evening at the Suizo. I
hoped that he might bring his wife, for she en-
joyed taking a walk after dinner.

But the hope was not realized. Marti came
alone, saying that his wife was fatigued and indis-
posed. I thought this a pretext, and it made me
sad. Perhaps that first moment had exhausted her
effusive gratitude, and distrust and rancor had re-
turned to her heart.

In less than an hour, Marti and I were excellent
friends. He struck me as a sympathetic person, of
open nature, affectionate, cheerful, and candid.
The hundred affairs that occupied him did not
leave him much time to give to any one thing. In
his conversation he sped lightly from one affair to
another, but showed himself ever wide-awake and
energetic. I let him talk, observing him with in-
tense curiosity. The impression from that first
conversation that best remains with me was his
fashion of rumpling his wavy hair, running his

The Joy of Captain Ribot

fingers back through it after the manner of a comb,
and giving a little cough when about to express
some idea that he deemed important. This man-
nerism, which in another might perhaps seem
ridiculous, had in him a gracious effect, boyish and
attractive. I cannot clearly express the sentiments
that Marti inspired in me at that time. They were
an indefinable mixture of sympathy and repug-
nance, of curiosity and Jealousy, which can be ac-
counted for only by one who has found himself in
a situation analogous to mine.

The Urano was to weigh anchor the next day
at fiood-tide in the afternoon. In the morning
I presented myself at the hotel to take leave of my
new friends. Marti and his mother-in-law warmly
expressed their regret at my departure. Cristina
did not make her appearance. She was shut in her
chamber at her toilet, as I understood, and had not
the kindness to have me asked to wait; on the con-
trary, she dismissed me so abruptly that she seemed
to fear I might.

" Adios, Captain Eibot! " she called from within.
" Pardon me for not coming out; it is impossible at
this moment. May you have a most happy voyage;
and again you have a million thanks from me. We
can never forget what you have done. A pleasant
trip! "

Marti urged me to breakfast with them, but I
had much to do and declined. Moreover, I must
40

The Joy of Captain Ribot

confess I felt so melancholy that I wanted to get
into the street. He, as well as Dona Amparo, of-
fered me a thousand inducements to run down to
Valencia on my return to Barcelona, where the
steamer always stayed for eight or ten days. He,
as well as his wife, would take great pleasure in
entertaining me at their home. I was ohliged to
promise to do so, but with the definite intention of
not complying.

It was always difficult to get away from the ship;
and the coldness of Dona Cristina gave me no en-
couragement to make such a visit.

In the afternoon Marti came on board to press
my hand once more before my departure. He
again urged me cordially not to fail to make them
a visit. Again I made the promise, with the men-
tal reservation already mentioned. We finally
bade each other a most affectionate farewell and I
put to sea, continuing my voyage to Hamburg.

41

CHAPTER IV.

"Vr OT until I found myself on the bridge of my
-1-1 steamer, between the sky and the sea, could
I take account of the impression that the wife of
Marti had made upon me. How many hours I have
passed that way, in the solitude of the ocean, given
over to my thoughts! Seldom have they been sad.
My life, after the profound grief caused by the
death of my fiancee, of which I have spoken, has
generally had a tranquil, if not happy, course.

I was born in Alicante, my father a seafarer.
In my school days I showed a fondness for study.
My father would have desired me to become a
lawyer or a physician; anything rather than a
sailor. But I found such careers prosaic, and im-
pelled by the romanticism natural to youth, and to
my somewhat dreamy and fanciful temperament,
I preferred that calling. My father agreed to this
with apparent reluctance, but was, perhaps, pleased
in reality by the appreciation that I showed for
his own profession. I soon learned navigation,
and made two voyages to Cuba. But my only sister
having died and my mother feeling rather lonely,
I felt obliged to stay at home and lead the life of
42

The Joy of Captain Ribot

a young gentleman of leisure. Nobody was sur-
prised at this. As my father was said to have
amassed a reasonable fortune, I was to a good de-
gree exempt from the hard law of toil.

A few years later I fell in love. My marriage
was arranged and would have taken place had not
Matilde, as she was named, been taken ill. Her
recovery was hoped for, but hoping and hoping,
the good and beautiful girl passed from life. My
grief was so intense that my health and even my
reason were threatened. My parents could find
no more adequate remedy than to send me to sea
again. I agreed with indifference. Now I went
as second officer in a steamer of the same company
in which my father was employed. After a few
months my father was crippled by rheumatism, and
while he was undergoing treatment the owners
placed me temporarily in command of the
Urano. Unfortunately he could not resume his
place; after dragging out a painful existence for
some time he died. My mother would have liked
me to forsake the sea and again live leisurely at
home with her; but I had grown so accustomed to
the sea, to the varied and active existence of the
navigator, to-day in one port, to-morrow in an-
other, that I could not be persuaded to forsake
it. On board of my steamer, therefore, to which
I had become greatly attached, I reached my
thirty-sixth birthday. My mother died, and a
43

The Joy of Captain Ribot

little later the incident took place that I have just
related.

I have said that when alone with my thoughts I
comprehended that Dona Cristina had taken too
much possession of them. Her image floated be-
fore me like a dream. That look, now grave, now
roguish, of her black eyes; that impressionable
shyness, her blushing like a schoolgirl in contrast
with her gracious self-possession; then her facile
forgiveness, and the repressed tenderness that she
showed for her husband — all tended to idealize her.
But more than anything, I confess, my own tem-
perament contributed to this, and the solitude in
which the mariner passes most of his time. After
the death of Matilde no true love had ever occupied
my heart again. Idle affairs, adventures for a few
days, amused me along various degrees of the scale.
And so I had come to see the first gray threads in
my beard and hair. But my romantic nature, al-
though dormant in the depths of my heart, was
by no means dead. The adventures in folly, the
coarse pleasures of the seaports, far from choking
that tendency, encouraged its revival. I never felt
more thoughtful and melancholy than after one
of those affairs. To recover my equilibrium, I
would stretch out under the awning with a book
in my hands; filling my hmgs with the pure sea air
and opening my soul to the ideas of the great poets
and philosophers, peace and joy would return.
44

The Joy of Captain Ribot

Eeading has always been the supreme resource
of my life, the most efficacious balm for its trou-
bles.

The adventure with Dona Cristina transported
me to complete ideality, and I breathed the atmos-
phere wherein I found myself most sane and happy.
So I occupied myself with pleasurable thoughts
about her, without considering that unhappy con-
sequences might follow. Many a time, when a
pretty young woman had crossed my path in port,
I would afterwards tenaciously hold her image in
my mind's eye. Again, in the solitude of the sea,
fancy would eyoke her, I would imagine her in
diverse situations, I would make her talk and laugh,
I would make her grow angry and weep, and would
endow her with a thousand charming qualities.
And in the companionship of this phantasm I
would pass happy days, until on arrival in port it
would dissolve or be replaced by another.

So now I attempted to do the same. But I could
not succeed, even partially. Dona Cristina had not
fleetingly passed me by like many other handsome
women. The impression that she had left with
me was much deeper; she had stirred nearly every
fibre of my being. Instead of representing her as
I chose, I saw her as she had appeared in reality.
And again I felt the shame and the sadness that she
had made me experience. On the other hand, her
condition as a married woman deprived my dreams
45

The Joy of Captain Ribot

of the innocence that they had had on former occa-
sions; it tinged them with a sombre shade that was
little pleasing to my conscience.

I therefore determined to clear my mind of these
thoughts. I sought to distract myself from such
imaginings, to forget the beautiful Valenciana, and
recover my peace. Thanks to my efforts, and even
more to my prosaic occupations, I succeeded. But
on skirting the eastern coast on my return trip
from Hamburg, when I doubled the cape of San
Antonio and there spread before my view the in-
comparably lovely plain that holds Valencia and
surrounds it with its garden of eternal verdure like
a brooch of emerald, the image of Dona Cristina
appeared to me in form more ideal, more seductive
than ever; it took possession of my imagination
never to leave it again.

I do not know how it was, but the day after ar-
riving at Barcelona I hastily adjusted the most im-
portant matters, left the ship in charge of the first
officer, and took the train for Valencia. I arrived
at dusk, went to a good hotel, dined, changed my
clothes, and made the most careful toilette I had
ever made in my life. Then I went out to look up
the house of Marti.

Not until then did I take account of the folly I

had committed. I well knew that Marti would

receive me with open arms, and would be delighted

at my visit. But what would his wife think of it?

46

The Joy of Captain Ribot

Would she not suspect that its motive was an in-
terested one, and put herself on her guard? The
idea that she might think that I sought payment
in annoying gallantry for my service at Gijon
was abhorrent. I was tempted to return to the
hotel, go to bed, and leave the next day without
letting anybody know that I was in Valencia.
Nevertheless, an irresistible impulse pressed me to
see her again. An instant, only for an instant, to
engrave her image most profoundly in my soul and
then to go away and dream of it through all my
life!

Walking slowly I came to the Plaza de la Eeiua,
the most central and lively place in the city. The
night was serene, the air warm, the balconies were
open; before the cafes people were sitting outdoors.
And to think that there in Hamburg I had left the
poor Germans shivering with cold! I took a seat
under the awning of the Cafe del Siglo, as much
for the sake of calming myself as to wait until they
had finished supper at the house of Marti. When
I thought it was time, I entered the Calle del
Mar, which was near by. I followed its course,
agitated and joyous, and stopped before the num-
ber that Marti had indicated. It was one of the
most sumptuous houses of the street, elegant, of
modern construction, with a high principal story,
crowned by a handsome upper story. The great
portal was adorned by statues and plants and il-
47

The Joy of Captain Ribot

luminated by two clusters of gaslights. One of
the windows was open and at that moment there
escaped the lively notes of a piano. " Is it she who
is playing?" I asked myself with emotion. I en-
joyed the music for a moment, and at last ap-
proached the door. The porter called a servant,
whom I told that I wished to see his master on
urgent business. I was shown into the oflB.ee.
Marti appeared without delay. What a cry of sur-
prise! what a cordial embrace he gave me! Then
taking me through a corridor, speaking to me
meanwhile in a whisper that his wife might not
fail to be surprised, he ushered me into a room full
of people.

" Cristina, here comes the bad man! "

She was at the piano. At the sound of her hus-
band's voice she turned her head; her eyes met
mine. She instantly turned them away and back
to the piano just as quickly, as if she had seen some-
thing sad or alarming. But controlling herself
almost in the same moment, she rose, and, advanc-
ing towards me with a forced smile, she extended
her hand.

" I am very glad to see you. Captain Eibot. We
are immensely pleased to have you visit us."

I felt my heart constricted, and I could not help
responding with a certain carelessness:

" There is no occasion for such feeling. It is
entirely casual. I had some business to look after
48

The Joy of Captain Ribot

in Valencia and on that account you see me
here."

Marti embraced me anew.

" I am enchanted with the rude frankness of you
sailors! That is just the way to speak! Away
with these conventional lies that deceive nobody
and simply serve to show what actors we are. The
main thing is that we have you here and that your
visit gives us genuine pleasure."

Then turning to the company he added, not
without a certain emphasis:

" Senores, I present you to the captain of the
Urano. I have nothing more to say."

An extraordinarily lean young man approached
to give me his hand. His skin was rough and
weather-marked, as if he had come from long and
painful labors in the sun. He was prematurely
bald, and from his mouth there depended an enor-
mous pipe stuffed with tobacco. He was dressed
with elegance, though a little carelessly.

" My brother-in-law, Sabas."

He was followed by a person of about the age of
Marti, more or less, tall rather than short, blonde,
his mustache small and silky, his skin flaccid, most
carefully shaven. He was likewise fashionably
dressed, and with a care that contrasted with the
negligence of the other.

" My intimate friend and partner, Don Enrique
Castell."

4 49

The Joy of Captain Ribot

These were the only men present. I was next
taken before Dona Amparo, who was working at
her crochet, seated in a crimson-velvet chair; I
was then presented to the wife of his brother-in-
law, a plump little woman, round-faced, blonde,
and blue-eyed, sitting on a divan and at work with
an embroidery frame on her lap. Beside her was
a young girl of seventeen years whose face of ad-
mirable correctness, soft and ivory-like, had the
same expression of timid innocence as the virgins
of Murillo. She was the daughter of a white-
haired lady with an aquiline nose and severe and
imposing physiognomy, seated beside a gilded table
with a newspaper in her hands. Marti presented
me to her as his Aunt Clara, a cousin of his mother-
in-law.

The entire company welcomed me most kindly,
particularly Dona Amparo, who with tearful eyes
seized both my hands, retaining them until the
excess of her emotion obliged her to drop them in
order to raise her handkerchief to her eyes. The
conversation first turned upon the mishap of that
lady. My conduct was eulogized to a degree that
put me to shame and made me uneasy, and they
discussed the causes of the accident. The brother-
in-law of Marti, with voice cavernous and husky,
perhaps from abuse of tobacco, bitterly censured the
conduct of the authorities of Gijon for not having
properly lighted the wharf. I replied that almost
50

The Joy of Captain Ribot

all wharves were lighted in the same way, since they
were not intended for purposes of public pleasure
but for the loading and unloading of merchandise.
He insisted upon his position, showing that in all
maritime cities the wharves are places of recrea-
tion. I replied that in that case people must
look out for themselves. Marti cut short the dis-
pute by asking me to what hotel I had gone, that
he might send for my luggage. In vain I opposed
his doing so. Seeing that he felt hurt by my re-
fusal I gave way at last, all the more since the en-
tire family joined in urging me.

In the meantime Cristina played the piano with
careless fingers, talking all the while with her sister-
in-law. She was elegantly dressed in a loose crim-
son gown beneath whose folds were revealed the
lines of coming maternity. Whenever I could I
gazed at her with intense attention. And when
she observed it she seemed restless and nervous,
and took pains that her eyes should not meet mine.
Marti went out to give some orders about my cham-
ber. His friend and partner, who had kept silent,
reclining negligently in an easy-chair with legs
crossed, began to ask me various questions about
my voyages, the fleet of steamers, the ports where
we touched, and everything relating to the com-
merce in which the ships of our line were engaged.
The talk acquired the character of an examination,
for Castell showed that he knew as much as I did,
51

The Joy of Captain Ribot

or more, about such things. He had travelled
much, knew two or three languages perfectly, and
on his travels had not only gained knowledge useful
in commercial affairs but a multitude of ethno-
graphic, historical, and artistic facts that I was far
from possessing. He was a really accomplished
man, but I could not help noting that he was fond
of exhibiting his learning, that he carefully
rounded his periods in his talk and listened to
himself, and that, without lacking in courtesy,
he did not conceal his slight appreciation of the
opinions of others. On the whole the man was
not congenial to me, although I recognized his
excellent qualities. He had a voice clear and
mellow like a preacher, with grave and noble
gestures that enabled him to display his hand,
which was short and beautiful, and ornamented
with rings.

Marti returned, and his Aunt Clara, without
giving up her newspaper, questioned him.

" How is it with olives, now, Emilio ? Have
they not risen twenty centimes this week? "

" Yes, aunt, I am informed that they have risen
and will rise still further."

"It couldn't be otherwise," she exclaimed in
triumphant tones. "I told Eetamoso so last month,
and he paid no attention to me. He is obstinate,
like a good Galician, and so short-sighted in busi-
ness that he can scarcely see the length of his nose.
53

The Joy of Captain Ribot

If it weren't for me, I believe that he would soon
go into bankruptcy."

The voice of the lady was vibrant and powerful;
her sculptural head raised itself so proudly when
she spoke, her aquiline nose was held so high, and
her eyes flashed so imposingly that in her presence
one might fancy himself transported to the heroic
age of the Eoman republic. Cornelia, the mother
of the Gracchi, could not have been more severe
and majestic.

Marti coughed, to avoid replying, desiring
neither to contradict his aunt nor to offend his
uncle.

" And what do you say to the fall in cocoa? " she
continued, with the heroic accent that might be
employed in asking a consul about a legion sur-
prised and overwhelmed by the Gauls.

Marti contented himself' with shrugging his
shoulders.

"Yet he had the assurance to deny that it is
anything serious," she continued with increasing
scorn. " It could only be hid from a man of the
narrowest, most limited judgment, altogether un-
adapted to ventures in the wholesale trade. When
I saw the Ibarra steamers arriving, loaded with
Guayaquil, I said to myself, 'Yes, indeed, this
staple is bound to fall.' "

" Uncle Diego knows how to tell where the shoe
pinches, all the same," Marti ventured to remark.
53

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" Yes, indeed! Behind a counter, selling cheese
and codfish by the quarter pound, he would be in-
valuable. But as a man of business he is a good-
for-nothing; it is only because I have taken the
trouble to think for the two of us that we have been
able to get where we are."

At this moment there appeared in the doorway
a short stout man, of a pale complexion, bald, with
small eyes, who greeted those present with a pro-
nounced Galician accent.

" Good evening! How do you do? "

"Hola! Uncle Diego! How do you do, Reta-
moso? "

Dona Clara, caught in the act, turned her eyes
again to her periodical, without abating an atom
of her dignity.

Her husband, who, so far as could be seen, had
heard nothing, shook hands with those about him,
kissed his daughter, and coming over to his wife,
said to her in affectionate tones:

"Don't read at night, wife! Now, you know
you are trying your eyes."

Dona Clara took no notice. Eetamoso, turning
to the others, declared with profound conviction:

" She never can be idle. Isabelita, my daughter,
entreat your mamma not to read! Now, you know
that she does too much. When she is not reading,
she is casting up accounts; when not easting up
accounts, she goes down to the warehouse to make
54

The Joy of Captain Ribot

out bills; when not making out bills, she writes
letters; when not writing letters, she speaks Eng-
lish with the Eicartes's governess. Hers is a won-
derful head! I don't understand how she is able
to do so many things in turn, without being either
disturbed or fatigued."

I owe it to Dona Clara to say that she seemed
suspicious of this panegyric, for instead of ac-
knowledging it and showing herself gratified by it,
she made the gesture of an offended queen.

" I do not disturb myself for such little things,
dear, because I have trained myself in a manner
different from the women of your province. If
there they still go on spinning by the fireside, in
the rest of the world they hold a more brilliant
position. Here is a sailor," she added, indicating
me, " who has travelled much, and can confirm
this." •

I bowed and murmured some courteous phrases.

" Well, all this does not hinder my admiring
your ability," went on Eetamoso in a tone of ex-
aggerated adulation. " Does not all the world know
it in Valencia? Am I to be the only one who
does not, or pretends not to know it? How many
women might be educated like you, and yet not
have the capacity to accomplish in a month what
you do in a day! "

" Tell me, Eibot," queried Dona Clara, address-
ing me as if she had not heard her husband, who
55

The Joy of Captain Ribot

went on murmuring flattering phrases, opening his
eyes wide and arching his eyebrows to express the
admiration which possessed him, "among all the
many ports that you have visited, have you not
met women with as much business faculty as men,
or more?"

"I have known some women at the head of
powerful commercial houses, directing with much
wisdom, carrying on correspondences in several
languages, and keeping their books with perfect
exactitude. But — ^I confess freely that a woman
engaging in industrial speculations, or inclined
to politics or business, appears to me like a princess
with a taste for selling matches and newspapers
in the streets."

" What's this! " exclaimed Dona Clara, throwing
up her Eoman head. " Then you believe that the
position of woman is nothing more than that of a
domestic animal, caressed or beaten by man, ac-
cording to his caprice? Woman should, in this
view, remain always in complete ignorance, without
studying, without instruction! "

" Let her be instructed as much as she likes," I
replied, " but in my notion woman has no need of
learning anything, because she knows every-
thing "

" Just so! " interrupted Retamoso with enthusi-
asm. " That has always been my opinion. Isa-
belita," he went on, turning to his daughter, " have
56

The Joy of Captain Ribot

I not said to you a thousand times that your
mamma knows everything before having to learn
it?"

I saw a smile flit over Marti's lips. Cristina
rose from the piano where she had been sitting and
went out of the room.

" I do not understand what you wish to say," de-
clared Dona Clara, with a certain acerbity.

" Women who know how to make us happy,
make happiness for themselves also. "What other
knowledge can equal this upon the earth? The
toUs of men, the callings conquered by civilization,
go to achieve slowly and painfully what woman
performs at once and without endeavor, making
life more supportable, and alleviating its woes.
Being, as she is, the repository of charity and of
the gentle and beneficent sentiments, she guards
in her heart the secret of the destiny of humanity,
and transmits it by heredity and education to her
sons, contributing to progress in this way more
truly than ourselves."

" That is more gallant than exact," interrupted
Castell, impertinently. "Woman is not the re-
pository of progress, and has contributed nothing
to it. You may study the history of the arts, the
sciences, and the industries, and you will not find
a single useful discovery that we owe to the genius
or the industry of a woman. This demonstrates
clearly that her mind is incapable of elevation to
57

The Joy of Captain Ribot

the sphere wherein move the high interests of civ-
ilization. Woman is not the repository of progress.
She is solely the repository of being; and as this
is the case, two things only ought to be demanded
of her, health and beauty."

" You would be right," I replied, " if the unique
phase of progress lay in useful discoveries. But
there are others; and, as I understand them, more
important ones — the brotherhood of man, the
moral law. This is the true goal of the world."

Castell smiled, and, without looking at me, said
in a low voice:

" For all that, I believe that I could name about
fifty-seven other goals, if I know the world."

And lifting his voice he added: " I have dis-
cussed life with many men, and I can declare that
scarcely one has failed to assign his own especial
goal to the world. Among clergymen it is the
triumph of the Church; among democrats, political
liberty; among musicians, music; and among
dancers, the dance. And yet the poor world con-
tents itself with existing, laughing once in a while
at so much folly, and trampling everybody under
foot as it goes its way."

He paused and settled himself more comfortably
in his arm-chair. I felt annoyed at those words,
and especially at the scornful tone in which they
were uttered. I was going to reply with energy,
but Castell continued his discourse, tranquilly ex-
58

The Joy of Captain Ribot

pounding his thoughts in a series of reasonings
held together with logic, and expressed in elegant
and precise fashion. I could not help admiring
the varied qualities of his erudition, his penetra-
tive talent, and, above all, the clarity and grace
of his choice of words. Like submissive slaves, all
of those in the dictionary came trooping to his
tongue's end, to express his thoughts easily and
harmoniously.

His theories seemed strange and sad to me. The
world bears it goal in its own existence. Morality
is the result of especial conditions that life has un-
folded for itself upon our planet. If the human
race had b'een produced under conditions of life
like those of the bees, it would be a duty for un-
married women to deal out death to their brothers,
as the workers do. All manifestations of life, even
to the highest, are ruled by instinct. The virtuous
man, like the degenerate, is moved by an irresistible
impluse of his nature. Morality, which the reli-
gious man admires as a divine revelation, is nothing
more than an invention destined to satisfy this or
that instinct.

I really found myself without enough courage
to contradict successfully his audacious assertions.
My reading was wide, but desultory, as I had read
more for entertainment than for instruction.

Then, too, I had never cultivated expression;
because my profession did not require it, and I
59

The Joy of Captain Ribot

wrestled with great .difficulties whenever I tried to
express my thoughts.

Marti came to my aid, cutting off the discussion
in a jocular fashion.

" Do you know what is the destiny of woman
according to my brother-in-law, Sabas? "

All looked up, including the one spoken of.

" Sewing on buttons."

" I don't see why you say that," muttered Sabas,
ill-humoredly, taking his pipe in his hand.

" Why shouldn't I say it? There isn't a man in
the Peninsula who has lost more buttons than
you! Yet I could not mention one of having gone
to your house and not finding Matilde sewing on
some."

Sabas muttered some unintelligible words.

" What does she say? " asked Marti.

"Yes, he loses enough!" said the plump lady,
laughing.

But her husband, coloring, gave Marti a severe
glance.

" If he loses as many as there are in the world,"
interrupted Dona Amparo, from her little red-satin
elbow-chair, "buttons are not everlasting, and I
believe that my son would rather go like Adam
than trouble others to sew on his buttons! "

She spoke these words with emotion as if they
were accusing her son of a fault.

" Although he loses more than there are in the
60

The Joy of Captain Ribot

world, it is a matter of no importance, and not
worth while for you to put yourself out about, or he
vexed with us," replied Marti.

" I am put out about it because it seems to me
that everybody has a desire to find fault with my
son. The poor fellow is always in disgrace. But
until the day he dies his mother will always defend
him! "

She uttered these words with even more emotion.
I saw with astonishment that she was preparing to
weep.

" But, mamma! " exclaimed her son-in-law.

" But, mamma! " exclaimed her daughter-in-
law.

Both of them appeared contrite and con-
cerned.

" Such is my maternal passion, my children! "
went on Dona Amparo, struggling not to weep.
"I cannot help it! We all have faults in this
world, but a mother is not able to endure those of
her children. I suffer horribly when anyone
points them out to me, and much more when it
is a member of the famUy. Some such sad ideas
come into my head! It seems to me that you do
not care for — I believe that I could die con-
tent if I knew that you cared as much for one
another as I care for you."

Excess of emotion prevented her from saying
more. She let her needlework fall upon her lap,
61

The Joy of Captain Ribot

leaned her forehead upon her hand, and seemed
half ready to faint away.

Her daughter-in-law hurried to bring her flask
of salts, and she began to smell it. Marti also
assisted, with filial solicitude. Both showered a
thousand affectionate attentions upon her, soothing
her and making excuses. Thanks more to their
tender words, I think, than to the salts, the sensi-
tive mother recovered her faculties. When these
were restored, she tenderly kissed her daughter-in-
law's brow and seized Marti's hand, begging pardon
for having offended them.

As I already knew a little of the character and
whims of Doiia Amparo, I was not surprised that
Eetamoso and his wife, Isabelita and Castell, paid
scarcely any attention to this incident, and went
on talking among themselves as if nothing had
happened. Sabas, the cause of the disquiet, tran-
quilly smoked his pipe.

As soon as he had calmed his mother-in-law,
Marti invited me to come with him that he might
show me the room intended for me. It was lux-
urious and elegant, exceedingly luxurious it seemed
to me who had passed my life in the narrow con-
fines of a ship's cabin, or in our modest dwelling
at Alicante. When we reached this room, a maid
was making ready my bed under the senora's in-
spection. As we entered unheard she was herself
smoothing the sheets with her delicate hands. Our
62

The Joy of Captain Ribot

footsteps made her lift her head, and as if she had
been caught doing something wrong, she seemed
annoyed, relinquished her task, and said to the
maid with an ill-tempered accent:

" Well, you may go on with this, and see if you
can finish it quickly."

She was going out, but her husband detained her,
taking her hand.

" Have orders been given for bringing up cold
coffee and cognac? "

"Yes, yes; Eegina will stay and see to every-
thing," she replied with some impatience, drawing
away her hand and walking out.

I enjoyed her embarrassment with ill-concealed
delight. As we went out again into the corridor
I said to Marti, to make talk, and also out of
curiosity:

" It seems to me that Dona Amparo was a good
deal upset."

" You saw that! " he exclaimed, laughing in the
frank and cordial manner that characterized him.
" The least thing upsets her. The poor thing is
so good! I am as fond of her as if she were my own
mother. Her one desire is for us to love her.
She is so sensitive that the least little sign of in-
difference, the smallest neglect, affects her deeply,
and almost makes her ill. For that matter, al-
though we all go on carefully, and are very atten-
tive to her, it is not enough. Fancy this! I have
63

The Joy of Captain Ribot

taken up the custom of kissing her good-night
before going to bed! If by bad luck I forget it
for one day, the poor lady cannot sleep, think-
ing that I am vexed with her, wondering if she
has offended me without knowing it; and next day
she easts timid, anguished glances at me that
I do not understand until my wife explains the
enigma to me. I laugh, and go and smooth
her down."

When we returned to the parlor, the company
was dispersing. Castell gave me his well-cared-for
hand, shaking mine, expressing with the careless
coolness of a man of the world his pleasure in
knowing me. Sabas and his wife showed more
warmth. Dona Clara, majestic and severe, said
good-night to me without mentioning Jupiter or
Pollux, or any other pagan divinity, which sur-
prised me. Eetamoso improved a moment of eon-
fusion to say to me half in Galician:

" It may be that you are right, Senor de Eibot,
and that women are not made for business. But
mine is an exception, you know. Oh, a marvel!
You have already had opportunity to be convinced
of this. A veritable marvel. Phs! "

And he arched his eyebrows and showed the
whites of his eyes, as if he beheld before him the
Himalayas or the pyramids of Egypt.

Cristina took leave of them all from the head of
the stair with the gracious gravity that suited so
64

The Joy of Captain Ribot

well her attractive face. I had eyes for nobody but
her. Dona Amparo kissed everybody, kissed her
son, her daughter-in-law, Dona Clara, Isabelita,
and also, even, Eetamoso. I do not say she kissed
Castell, but I believe it was more from lack of cour-
age than lack of inclination.

At last we four found ourselves alone. In order
to prolong the waking moments, I begged Cristina
to play on the piano a piece from an opera. She
showed herself willing, and, without replying,
seated herself on the piano stool, fingered the keys
lightly for a moment, then commenced to sing in
a half -voice the serenade from Mozart's " Don
Juan." As I did not know of this accomplish-
ment my surprise was great, but even greater my
pleasure. Hers was a contralto voice, grave and
sweet. The music of the great masters has always
the power to move us, but when the voice of an
adored woman transports the soul, music truly
seems as if it had come hither from the heavens.
I enjoyed for some moments a happiness impossi-
ble to describe. My very being was transformed,
enlarged, quickened with love and joy. When the
last notes of the lovely accompaniment died away,
I remained swallowed up in a delicious ecstasy,
scarcely knowing where I was.

Marti pulled me out of that abruptly.

" Come, come! The Captain is falling asleep! "

We all rose. Dona Amparo retired to her room,
5 65

The Joy of Captain Ribot

but not until Marti had kissed her hand, giving me
at the same time a mischievous wiuk.

" If you need anything," said Cristina to me,
" you have only to ring the bell."

And without giving me her hand, she wished me
good-night. Marti accompanied me to my room,
and took himself off, chaffing me affectionately.

" If you are not able to sleep without the smell
of pitch. Captain, I will order a piece brought up
and we will set it on fire."

When I found myself alone, all the impressions
of the evening were loosed in my heart like impris-
oned birds, and began fluttering about in a bewil-
dering whirl. Why was I there? What did I
expect? How was this going to end? The kind
welcome and frank cordiality of this noble family
moved me. The heartiness of Marti filled me with
confusion and shame, but the lovely form of Cris-
tina rose up before me, adorable, bewildering, blot-
ting out all the rest. The thought of being so
near her, when I had resigned myself to see her
no more, overwhelmed me with felicity. I asked
again and again, how would this end? At last I
slept, kissing the hem of the sheet that her hands
had smoothed.

CHAPTER V.

ACCOEDINGr to my morning custom I rose first
of anybody in the house, and went out to
take a walk in the city. I had seen much of
Valencia, and was always gratefully impressed by
the quiet animation of her streets, her serene
heavens, her perfumed balminess. Yet how dif-
ferent from those impressions was the sensation
that I now experienced.

The beautiful city of the east was awakening
from sleep. People began stirring in the streets;
balconies were opened, and faces, pearl-white and
with magnificent Arab eyes, were visible behind the
flower-pots. As a morning greeting the gardens
sent forth odors of pinks and gillyflowers, mal-
lows and hyacinths; the sea its breezes fresh and
wholesome; the sky its rays of radiant light. Valen-
cia awoke and smiled upon her flower-gardens, her
sea, and her incomparable sky. Her fortunate
situation made me think of ancient Greece; and as
I saw passing me the happy, peaceful, intelligent
faces of her inhabitants, I longed to repeat the
famous words of Euripides to his countrymen:
" Oh, beloved sons of the beneficent gods! In your
67

The Joy of Captain Ribot

sacred and unconquerable country you reap the
glory of wisdom as a fruit of your soil; and you
tread stately evermore with sweet satisfaction be-
neath the eternal radiance of your skies."

I doubt if anyone, Greek or Valeneian, was ever
more content than I was at this moment. But as
a sorrowful moment waits eagerly upon every joy-
ous one in life, I was disappointed, on returning
to the house, not to see Cristina. Marti and I
breakfasted alone in the dining-room; and I
learned from him that his wife had already break-
fasted, and was in her own room.

What man was ever so gay, so afEectionate as
Marti? He began to tell of his family, his friends,
and his projects exactly as if we had been friends
all our lives. His projects were innumerable —
tramways, harbor improvements, railroads, street
widening, etc. I could not help thinking that for
carrying out all these plans not only an enormous
capital would be needed, but also an activity al-
most superhuman. Marti seemed to possess it.
At that time, besides the steamboat traffic that al-
most ran itself and took up but little of his time, he
was exploiting some zinc mines in Vizcaya, was
building several wagon roads in several provinces,
and was opening artesian wells in Murcia. In this
last he had already used a large sum without get-
ting much result, but he was sure of success.

"When we strike water," he said to me,

The Joy of Captain Ribot

laughing, "I intend to sell it by the cupful like
sherry."

He expressed himself rapidly, incoherently at
times; but always pleasingly, because he put his
whole soul into every word.

I contrasted his confused and vehement mode
of expression with that of his friend and partner,
Castell, so firm, so clear, so polished. We spoke
of him, and Marti outdid himself in eulogies of his
personality. There was not apparently in all the
world a man better informed, more talented, or
upright. He knew everything; the sciences had
no secrets for him; the planet hid no corner that
he had not explored. He was, moreover, highly
trained in the plastic arts, and he owned a collec-
tion of antique paintings, picked up on his travels,
that was famous in Spain and in foreign lands.

"But — Castell is a theorist, did you know it?"
he ended by saying, winking one eye. "We are
two opposites, and maybe because of this we have
been friends from childhood. He has always been
given to studying the foundation of things, and
their reason, philosophy, aesthetics. I don't under-
stand anything of all that, I have a temperament
essentially practical, and if you will not think me
boastful, I will venture to say that in Spain there
is a greater lack of useful men than of philosophers.
Does it not seem as if there is a plethora of theo-
logians, orators, and poets? If we wish to take our

The Joy of Captain Ribot

place beside the other countries of Europe it is
necessary to think about opening ways of com-
munication, making harbors, pushing industries,
exploiting mines. In my modest sphere, I have
done all that I could for the progress of our coun-
try; and if I have not accomplished more," he
added, laughing, " do not believe that it is for lack
of will, but for want of the precious metal."

" And Castell is your partner in these enter-
prises ? " I asked him.

" No; we are not associated except in the steam-
boat line. He is a man who is fretted by figures.
He is rich and wishes to enjoy his fortune tran-
quilly. But although he does not mix much in
business, when there is any lack of money he finds
it for me without hesitation, because he has full
confidence in me."

" It seems as if this taste for business is in the
famUy. Your Aunt Clara also shares this tem-
perament," I said, to satisfy the curiosity that had
pricked me since the previous night.

"My Aunt Clara is a notable woman of great
talent. But I believe, without speaking ill of her,
that the soul of the house, who has made all the
money, is her husband. Oh, my Uncle Diego looks
out for number one. There is no abler nor more
prudent merchant on all the eastern coast. Be-
lieve me, anything he lets go by isn't worth stoop-
ing to pick up."

70

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" Surely, according to what I have been given to
understand by himself, it is the senora who guides
him in difficult matters, who really holds the tiller
in the business."

" Yes, yes," said Marti, smiling and a little out of
countenance, " I do not doubt that my Aunt Clara
gives him some good counsel, but not of necessity.
In Valencia he is considered a bit crafty. It is
possible that there may be some truth in it. You
know the Galicians "

He coughed to hide his embarrassment, and to
change the conversation. I had already taken
notice that it was repugnant to him to find any
fault. He found himself on terra firma only when
he was praising people, and he did this with such
ardor that he seemed to taste a peculiar pleasure
in it. Eare and precious quality, that ever made
him more worthy of esteem in my eyes!

When we had finished breakfast, I pretended
that I had occupations, and left him to look after
his own. I went out into the streets again, and I
soon encountered Sabas in one of the nearest ones.
He seemed to me even more dried up and black
than last night. He saluted me with grave cour-
tesy, and after turning and joining me, urged me to
accompany him to his house, as it was necessary for
him to change his clothes. I was surprised at this
necessity, as I could not see that he was damp or
untidy. Later I found out that it was his custom
71

The Joy of Captain Ribot

to change his garb three or four times every day,
following the elegant rules of court life.

Meantime, as we wended our way to his house,
not far from that of his brother-in-law, he informed
me that he had a collection of canes and of pipes —
a very notable collection. It appeared that it was
one of the sights most worthy a visit of any in the
city, and with an amiability that I appreciated
highly, he offered to show it to me. He lived in a
charming little house. His wife came to open the
door for us, to whom he said laconically:

" I have come to change."

We went to his room, and he at once proceeded to
open the cupboards wherein he kept the canes.
There were, indeed, a lot of them and of many
kinds, and he exhibited them with a pleasure and
pride that filled me with even more astonishment
than their number and variety.

"You see this palasan; it has forty-two knots.
It had forty-three, but it was necessary to take oS
one, because it was too long. Look at this other
one, this violet stick." He stroked it. " Feel it.
This one is of tortoise-shell. It is the real thing
— a white one. It was brought to me by the cap-
tain of one of my brother-in-law's steamers."

The door of the room was half-opened and a
little red head appeared.

" Papa, mamma let us come to give you a kiss."

" Run away; we are busy now," replied the father
73

The Joy of Captain Ribot

solemnly, dismissing the chUd with a gesture. But
I had gone to the door, and I kissed with pleasure
that little red head. He was a bright child of six
or seven years. Behind him came another smaller
one, red-headed too, and leading by the hand a girl
of three or four years, dark, with great black eyes
and curling black hair. I have never seen more
lovely little creatures. I caressed them all warmly,
and especially the little girl, whose velvety eyes
were marvellous. But they were all timid, and
without paying attention to my questions, looked
doubtfully at their father. His face showed stern-
ness and annoyance. He seemed offended that I
found his collection of children more notable than
his canes. He kissed them as if in compromise,
and when his wife came running to find them, he
said to her sharply:

" Why did you let them come in here while I was
busy?"

" They got away while I was getting out a shirt
for you," she answered humbly.

And pushing the chicks before her, she drove
them from the room. After this I felt hopeful
that her husband would terminate his exhibition
of canes. He finished at last, and I, knowing that
I flattered him, uttered a thousand exaggerations
about his collection, which profoundly delighted
him. He then took the liberty of dressing before
me. His wife began to wait upon him like the
73

The Joy of Captain Ribot

most efficient and servile of valets. She put on his
shirt; she put on his cravat; she got down upon
the floor to fasten the buttons of his shoes. This
happy husband let himself be dressed and polished
off with a restrained gravity, meantime prattling
about his canes and pipes, these collections being,
it appeared, the aim and end of his existence.
From time to time he reproved his meek spouse.

"Don't fasten it so tight! Less dressing and
more rubbing on these shoes! Tell the maid that
I wish her to take care not to daub my shoes. I
don't care for that cravat; bring me a scarf that will
tie! "

Finding a button off his waistcoat, he was struck
dumb. He stared at his wife with a look so severe
that it made her flush.

" I don't know how I missed it," she stam-
mered. " It came off when the waistcoat was
washed. I put it aside to sew it on. I was
called to the kitchen, and after all I forgot all
about it."

" Nothing, it is nothing! Of what consequence
is one button more or less?" he said with a sarcastic
smile.

" You know I am very sorry about it."

" Have I not told you it is nothing, madam?
Why do you worry about it? One button, one
button! What does one button signify compared
to a bit of gossip with the laundress? "
74

The Joy of Captain Ribot

"But, man, for heaven's sake, don't be like
that! " she cried in anguish.

" Have I said anything? " he shouted, furious.

Matilde controlled herself and occupied herself
with sewing on the button.

"How should I be? Say!" he persisted with
unabated fury.

His wife did not look up.

Sabas then permitted several snorts to escape
him, mingled with incoherent words, and accom-
panied by a gnashing of teeth that the sarcastic
smile still upon his lips made even more repellent.

With heroic courage I tried to soothe his troubled
spirit. The winds fell, the waves became tranquil,
and he said to me affably:

"You are going to dine on a paella to-day. I
know it already from Cristina. My sister has a
cook who stews like an angel."

Matilde finished sewing on the button. When
she lifted her head I saw tears in her eyes.

Sabas gave the signal for starting, but first he
sent his good lady to find his gloves, to bring his
stick, and then his handkerchief. He drenched
it with scent from a perfume bottle, gave the last
polish to his shoes, and a few touches of the comb
to his whiskers. Matilde fluttered about him like
a butterfly, arranging his coat and his cravat and
his hat with her plump white hands. And when
he, dismissing her, took her chin in his hand with a
75

The Joy of Captain Ribot

careless, protecting gesture her eyes shone with a
radiant, triumphant expression that seemed to
transport her to the heavens.

In the passage as we were going out we en-
countered the three children, who would have
thrown themselves upon their father to be kissed,
but he stopped them with a threatening gesture.

"No, I can't now. I should be all slobbered
over."

I, who had no fears of being daubed, kissed them
with pleasure, wishing to make amends to them for
his crossness. Vain hope! They received my ca-
resses with indifference, following with their eyes
their elegant and morose papa.

Matilde watched us from the top of the stair,
having eyes for nothing but her husband. She
noticed that the collar-band of his shirt did not
fit well, on account of his overcoat, hastened to
pull it down for him and turn it up; and profited
by the opportunity to give a few more touches to
his whiskers with her fingers.

It was now eleven o'clock in the forenoon. The
streets were full of people. The sun shone in the
sky in all its splendor. We breathed a perfumed
air, proving ourselves to be in the city of flowers.
At every step we encountered servants carrying
branches and sprays of them that loving ones
were sending to delight their friends. In Valencia
flowers make up so large a part of life, and their
76

The Joy of Captain Ribot

use is so general and natural, that the sending of
flowers is like saying good-morning. Contem-
plating this profusion of carnations, roses, and
lilies that rejoice the eyes and make fragrant the
air, I could not help saying, " This is the city where
there is so much that is lovely to enjoy that it
matters little what one does with one's days! "

I could have gone about the streets with pleasure
until time for dinner, hut Sabas felt himself in
duty bound to invite me to take an appetizer, and
we entered a cafe in the Plaza de la Eeina.

While sipping a glass of vermouth Sabas showed
himself loquacious and expansive, but without los-
ing his natural gravity. He talked to me about
his family and friends. I saw at once that he had
an analytical temperament of the first rank, clear
perceptions, and a keen instinct for seeing the
weak side of people and things.

His sister was a discreet woman, affectionate, of
upright and noble intentions — ^but her character
was excessively difficult; she enjoyed opposing
people; at times she lacked courtesy; she was want-
ing in docility, in a certain meekness absolutely
essential in a woman; lastly, although really gen-
erous, she did not make herself liked.

I should have enjoyed protesting against this
absurd summing up. It was precisely these quali-
ties of her character, at once timid and resolute,
and her coldness a bit harsh, that made me more
77

The Joy of Captain Ribot

in love than ever. I abstained, however, for pru-
dential reasons, from speaking.

His brother-in-law was, poor fellow, an indus-
trious man, generous, intelligent in business — but
absolutely incapable, as everybody knew. All the
world imposed upon him and used him. He was
of a temperament so volatile that as soon as he had
undertaken one project he was tired of it, and
thinking of another. This had made him lose a
great deal of money. He could not tell how many
enterprises Marti had engaged in. Some of them
would have been very successful if he had stayed
in them; but he scarcely encountered the first diffi-
culties in them before he threw them aside, aban-
doned them. He had only shown himself per-
sistent where it was absolutely useless — in the
matter of the artesian wells. What a lot of money
the man had already carried off and buried in that
wretched business! The one thing that had really
turned out well had been the steamboats, and these
he did not start, but inherited them from his
father.

His friend Castell possessed great learning, ex-
pressed himself admirably, and was immensely rich
— but had not a scrap of heart. He had never
shown any affection for anybody. Emilio was mis-
taken through and through in thinking that he
returned the passionate, fervent adoration that he
felt for him.

78

The Joy of Captain Ribot

"But do not touch upon this point when you
are again with him, as I have tried it several times.
Whenever the conversation brings in the name of
Castell it is necessary to open the mouth, roll up
the eyes to their whites, and fall into an ecstasy,
as if one beheld a divinity of Olympus. Castell
knows this weakness of my brother-in-law, ap-
proves of it, and gives himself airs over it. For the
rest, on the day when he has any need of him, he
will see how the matter stands then."

"But Marti told me that he finds money for
him when he needs it in his busiaess," I put in.

"Yes, yes," he agreed with his sarcastic smile;
" I do not doubt that he finds money for him, but
everybody in Valencia knows the meaning of that."

I asked no questions. Having been admitted
into the intimacy of the family, I would not prompt
him. Sabas went on:

"This man is, moreover, vicious and immoral.
He has been entangled for years with a woman who
has borne him several children; but this is no
obstacle to his bringing back a charmer with him
whenever he makes a foreign journey. He has
already had three, one of them a Greek, a beautiful
woman! He keeps them a while and presently
tires of them, like lackeys who no longer please him.
This, you understand, makes a great scandal in a
provincial capital; but as he is named Don Enrique
Castell and owns eight or ten million pesetas, no-
79

The Joy of Captain Ribot

body wishes to offend him. The priests and the
canons, and even up to the bishop, take off their
hats to him a league off."

" I have been told of the wealth of your relations,
the Eetamosos! "

" Oh, no; that is a much more modest fortune;
it is counted by thousands of duros, not by millions;
but all that has been earned bit by bit, did you
know it? — peseta by peseta, at first behind a
counter, and then at a desk."

" Your Aunt Clara, it seems, is a lady of much
judgment in business."

Sabas roared with laughter.

" My Aunt Clara is an imbecile! She has never
done anything in all her life, except speak English
with governesses and show her classic nose in the
Glorieta and the Alameda. But my Uncle Diego
is the slyest Galician born in this century. He
laughs at his wife, and he is capable of laughing
at his own ghost. I do not consider that he has
ability for any great enterprises. He has not, as I
just said, the genius of affairs; but I assure you
that, among those who handle small amounts, I
have never known, nor do I think you could readily
find, a more cautious man."

In this fashion my elegant friend continued his

studies of his family with a criticism implacable,

yet clever and at times witty. From that he went

on to talk about his native city; and I found his

80

The Joy of Captain Ribot

observations concerning the character of the Valen-
cians, their customs, polities, and administration
of provincial affairs, sharp and -to the point. I
confess that I had mistaken him. I had at first
taken him for a mere coxcomb, a vapid and frivo-
lous young man. He turned out to be a man of
good understanding, observing and clever, although
a little exaggerated in his analyses, and sufficiently
severe.

We went out of the cafe, and before going to the
house, we took another turn in the streets. Natu-
rally, as I am a native of the east coast, son of a
sailor, and myself a sailor, the aspect of the great
Mediterranean city had an especial seduction for
me. The narrow streets, tortuous, clean, with
their profusion of fine shops; the large number of
ancient stone houses with artistic fagades, belong-
ing to noble families that have made their names
known and respected throughout the world; the
hUl towers, among whose turrets one may imagine
stUl flit the old-time archers; the bridges with their
benches; the Lonja, whose rooms of exceptional
size and beauty shelter the richest traders of Spain;
the lively market-place and open space about — all
reveal, together with her mercantile traditions, an
ancient and opulent capital. All spoke to me of
the grandeur of my race.

I gave myself into the hands of my companion,
who took me to the flower-market. We were not
6 81

The Joy of Captain Ribot

long in penetrating an iron-walled passage wliere,
on one side and the other, leaving space in the
middle, was seen a multitude of pale, black-eyed
women exhibiting their merchandise — carnations,
roses, lilies, hibiscus, and iris. Great was the ani-
mation in this little place. Ladies, with their
rosaries and mass-books in their hands, stood be-
fore these venders, examining their wares with
liberal and intelligent eye, and bargaining everlast-
ingly before deciding to buy. Gentlemen laden
with branches and sprays were given numerous in-
structions concerning their arrangement. Ser-
vants and shop-girls also hastened to the stalls,
took their little handful of flowers, stuck some of
them in their hair, and leaving their bits of copper,
marched happily away with others in their hands,
to continue their tasks. With what enthusiasm
they would look at their flower-fillets! With what
pleasure they breathed their fragrance!

As we cruised among the stalls I observed that
most of the flower-venders greeted my friend by
name, smiling amiably upon him, and asking him
if he had no orders to give.

" You are popular in the market," I said to him,
laughing.

" I am a good customer, nothing more," he
answered modestly.

And placing his hand on my shoulder, he pushed
me towards one of the doors, where we stationed
83

The Joy of Captain Ribot

ourselves, somewhat retired and half -hidden among
the foliage.

" This is a strategic point," he said to me. " You
will see how many fine figures pass hy here within
five minutes."

And truly the ladies who entered by the other
door, after making their purchases or giving their
orders, went out by this one. They passed so near
us that their dresses brushed us. My companion
had a compliment or a pleasant word for all. Many
of them knew him and greeted him; some paused
an instant to respond with gracious repartee to his
gallant phrases. I was surprised at the impudence
with which this man, married, and understanding
good form, thus paid court to women; and yet
more that they accepted his gallantries without
reserve.

I have seen many beautiful faces in the various
lands where my wandering life has carried me,
but nowhere so many, so delicate, of such opaline
transparency of complexion, of such exquisite pu-
rity as now. Then, what eyes! The soul moved
in their blackness and mystery as if yearning to
enfold you in happy dreams — sweet, voluptuous,
unfathomable eyes, that seemed to hold both love
and death. From among the multitude of heads
there was cast upon me a swift glance. It was she;
yes, it was she! "While stUl she was hid in the
crowd, I knew it was she who approached! My
83

The Joy of Captain Ribot

heart began to beat violently. In a few moments
she appeared. She was dressed in black, and wore
a mantilla. In one hand she carried her mass-
book and a rosary wound about her wrist like a
bracelet; in the other, a bunch of carnations. She
was with her cousin Isabelita, and both were ac-
companied by Castell. I cannot explain the sort of
impression that man made upon me at this moment.
My heart was constricted as if in the presence of
great danger, and the vague antipathy he had in-
spired me with the night before was transformed
into hatred. The violence with which this feeling
was born within me surprised me, but I did not
confess to myself the cause of it. I held it well in
hand and forced myself to appear as agreeable as
I could.

They seemed surprised when they saw us. Cas-
tell and Isabelita congratulated us on the excellent
position that we had chosen.

" What doesn't this rogue know about the con-
duct of gallantries! " exclaimed the daughter of
Eetamoso, giving Sabas a tap on the shoulder with
her book. And then, laughing, she blushed like a
poppy.

" Come, cousin," returned Sabas, " at least you
know that I haven't offered you any gallantries.
But we still have time. You are got up with so
much elegance that on seeing you I forget our
family ties."

84

The Joy of Captain Ribot

Isabelita blushed even more, if that were possi-
ble. Sabas persisted in his compliments. Castell
came to his aid. Meanwhile Cristina glanced ab-
sently from one to another. I divined that it was
to avoid meeting my eyes.

Sabas spoke to her:

" Little sister, aren't you going to put one of
your carnations in my button-hole? "

" Why not? " she answered.

And handing her book to her cousin, she took the
largest and most beautiful one in her bouquet and
fastened it where he bade her.

Moved by a sudden impulse, and with a daring
that I thought I had lost towards this woman, I
said:

" And is there nothing for the others? "

"Would you like one? " she asked me, handing
me one with a glance.

^'Hio; I desire the honor of having you fasten
it in my button-hole," I replied firmly.

There was an instant of suspense. She showed
indecision; but at last picked out another carna-
tion and hastily put it in its place. I thought I
noticed (it may have been illusion, I do not know)
that her hands trembled. Oh, Dios, with what
pleasure I could have kissed them!

" And I? Do I not have my turn? " asked Cas-
tell then, bowing with an amiable smile.

" Oh, pshaw! we have already had enough of
85

The Joy of Captain Ribot

carnations," she said crossly, going on out of the
door.

" I came too late," murmured the banker in some
confusion.

" Would you like one of mine? " Isabelita asked
him, timidly.

" Oh, with the greatest pleasure."

And he bowed smiling, and apparently delighted
while the young girl placed the carnation in his
coat. Yet I understood that he was disgruntled.

We all followed Cristina; and her cousin paired
off with her, Sabas, Castell, and I walking behind.
But we had not walked far when Sabas saw a
charming shop-girl, and stopped to chat with her.
Castell and I waited for him a moment, but seeing
he was not likely to finish soon, we followed on
after the ladies.

" This brother-in-law of Marti's seems to me a
youngster of a good deal of ability," I said to my
companion.

"As a critic?" asked Castell, laconically.

" As a critic? " I returned, surprised.

"Yes; he is admirably endowed with power to
see the weak and strong sides of things, to weigh
and measure, to compare, to penetrate the laby-
rinths of conscience. But these faculties are ex-
ercised upon others; it never occurs to him to apply
them to himself. Thus all his analyses, criticisms,
wise and pointed counsels, are wasted; and he is an
86

The Joy of Captain Ribot

absolutely fatuous and useless man. He has under-
taken five or six careers, and gone on in none of
them; he wasted his patrimony in gambling and
dissipation; he martyrizes his wife, neglects his
children, and he is at present living on his brother-
in-law."

"A good panegyric!" I exclaimed, laugh-
ing.

" You will hear the same from all sensible people
in town. This does not hinder him from being an
agreeable fellow, popular and generally liked; and
this is because his defects can scarcely be called
public, but private vices."

We joined the ladies at last, and arrived at
Marti's about the hour of dinner. My hosts had
invited in my honor the company of the night be-
fore, all of them with the exception of Castell being
members of the family. Emilio made me sit at
his wife's right. The touch of her dress, the per-
fume that floated from her, and a yet more mys-
terious fluid wherewith her nearness filled me, in-
toxicated and upset me. This went so far that,
desiring to show myself gallant and attentive to
her, I could scarcely say or do the most ordinary
things. I spilled water on the tablecloth, I asked
her three times if she liked olives, and dropped the
olive-fork in offering her one. But I was happy,
and I could not conceal it.

She showed herself courteous and a little more
87

The Joy of Captain Ribot

kindly "disposed, thanking me for my attentions
and gracefully covering up my blunders.

It made me even more happy when Castell fixed
his glance upon the carnation in my button-hole,
and asked me with his cold, ironical smile:

" Captain, would you take a thousand pesetas
for that carnation you are wearing? "

" A thousand pesetas! " exclaimed Marti, looking
up in surprise.

I was indescribably agitated, as if I had been
surprised in the act of committing a crime. I
knew no better than to smile stupidly and exclaim:

" How full of jokes you are! "

But Cristina held up her beautiful head proudly,
and turning to Castell,. she said:

" Captain Eibot is a gentleman, and does not
sell the flowers that a lady bestows upon him."

" Ah, so she bestowed it upon you! " said Marti,
and turning to Castell added: "But, Enrique,
would you wish Ribot to sell you this carnation,
when, if she had given it to me, I, although her
husband, would not let you have it for your whole
fortune?"

And at the same time he gazed at his wife with a
look of intense affection. The innocence and
nobleness of that man moved me. He must have
touched the soul of Cristina. Dropping her head
again, she murmured in intense tones:

"Thou art thou— to.'"
88

The Joy of Captain Ribot

These simple words were a poem of tenderness.

"It is well known," observed Castell with the
same indifference, "that there are things in the
world that cannot be and should not be bought
with money. Unfortunately men are not in the
same category with them, and therefore we pursue
material and even gross objects until we secure
them, however remote they may be."

" But I do not find them remote," said Sabas.
" It seems to me that money serves well enough for
almost all the cases that present themselves. Thus
you hold another carnation to be better than this.
This was given me by a lady. All right, Castell, I
will let you have this one for two pesetas."

The company laughed. Cristina seemed vexed
and said to her brother:

" You are rude; you are a clodhopper. Matilde,
do me the favor of taking the carnation away from
that pig. After that, he shall not keep it."

Sabas covered it up with his hands.

" Wait a bit, my girl, wait a bit. If Castell pays
the two pesetas, I'll give it up. Until then we do
not separate, no! "

" Here it is! " said Castell, taking the money out
of his pocket-book and passing it across the table.

" There — ^go! " said Sabas, passing over the ear-
nation.

This jest produced a shout at the table. Yet it
did not please Cristina. She was furious, and
89

The Joy of Captain Ribot

called her brother names, and vowed that she would
never give him another flower as long as she lived.

Meanwhile I had had time to recover from the
extreme agitation that the words of Castell had
caused me. We finished dining gayly, but Cristrna
did not again appear smiling and cordial as before.

Two hours later I took the train for Barcelona,
where my presence was indispensable. I was ac-
companied to the station by Marti and Sabas.
Marti made me promise another and a longer visit.

" After my next voyage," I told him, " I am
thinking of asking the company's permission to
stop at home when they change the order of time
for the ships, six weeks hence. Then I will come
down from Alicante and spend a week or a fort-
night with you."

" We shall see if you are a man of your word,"
he replied, squeezing my hand affectionately until
it was time for me to take the train and be off.

90

CHAPTEE VI.

I DO not know what relation exists between salt
water and love, but experience has made me
realize that there exists in it some mysterious and
stimulating virtue. On land I am able to control
somewhat my most vehement sentiments and con-
quer them. Once on board I am a lost man. The
most insignificant attraction takes on gigantic pro-
portions and in a little while knocks me flat. So
it happened that while in Valencia I proposed to
myself to make nothing of flattering invitations,
and never again in my life to return to stand before
Dona Cristina, continuing in this commendable
resolution until I left Barcelona, no sooner did I
find myself afloat than it vanished like the mist,
and seemed to me a veritable absurdity.

It was from Hamburg that I wrote to the ship-
ping house, asking permission to remain over one
voyage at home, to arrange certain family affairs.
Meanwhile it had come about that I was not able
to think of anything but the wife of Marti. Not
even in dreams did she leave my mind; every word
she had spoken sounded ceaselessly in my ears, as
if I had in my brain a phonograph charged with
91

The Joy of Captain Ribot

conversations, and in my heart I felt every one of
her gestures and movements. On returning to-
wards Valencia the delight of thinking that soon
I was going to enjoy a sight of my idol produced
in me a sentiment of mingled shame and remorse.
I feared a disdainful reception from her, and I
feared also an affectionate and cordial one from
her husband.

I did not intend to lodge in his house, to hush
my noisy conscience. After spending six days in
Alicante, I went to Valencia with a friend who
chanced along, and made him an excuse for not
going to the house of Marti. I did not go directly
to see him, preferring to go later. I went out first
to take a walk in the streets. But while walking
through one of the principal streets, I saw not far
distant three ladies looking at the fashions in a
shop-window.

As I drew near I perceived that one of them was
Cristina, and the other two. Dona Clara and Doiia
Amparo. I hastened up to them, and saluted them
standing behind them. (How could I do such a
thing?)

Cristina turned her head; and, as if she had seen
something alarming, she gave a cry and ran for-
ward hastUy a few steps. My astonishment was
great and the surprise of these ladies was scarcely
less. Perceiving at once the strangeness of her
conduct, and as if ashamed, she turned and came
93

The Joy of Captain Ribot

and welcomed me with unusual amiability. She
explained her cry and her flight by declaring that
a few moments ago she had given a bit of alms to
a poor creature who had been a criminal, and all at
once, without knowing why, it seemed to her as if
he had followed them and was going to attack her.
Dona Amparo and Dona Clara were satisfied with
this, and laid her attack of nerves to her condition;
they wished her to come into a shop and take a
quieting draught, but Cristina said no.

I knew better than this, and walked on with
them, saddened because I knew.

Marti received me with lively delight, professing
to be vexed with me because I had not sought the
hospitality of his house; but I, fortified by my ex-
cuse, held fast, and would not give in. Sabas also
showed pleasure at seeing me. I could not do less
than offer him my compassion on seeing in his
face traces plainer than ever of his arduous labors
beneath the sun. The result of these, by what I
could gather, was the acquisition of an amber
mouthpiece with his initials engraved upon it, of
which he was so proud that it seemed as if all the
vigils and anxieties that it had cost him had been
well spent.

It was not necessary to inquire what impression
my arrival made upon Castell. His cold, cere-
monious courtesy made unnecessary any inquiries
of that sort. Eeally it seemed to me that the

The Joy of Captain Ribot

lightly disdainful attitude that he held towards
all the world was a little emphasized towards me.
Perhaps I was ill-tempered, but a secret instinct
warned me that this man hated me, and I paid him
in his own coin.

Cristina was now quite advanced in her maternal
expectations. Although women do not consider
themselves beautiful at this time, except to their
husbands, I found her more beautiful and inter-
esting than ever, an indubitable proof of the depth
of the affection wherewith she had inspired me.
Her imaginary fears and her agitations at sight of
me only increased it, and I credited her lack of cour-
tesy to these imaginary fears. I noted that after
the meeting she took pains not to look at me; but
the very haughtiness with which she did it showed
that some agitation ruled her spirit, and that I
was not absolutely indifferent to her. Such was
at least my illusion at the time.

Although I was not lodged in his house, the
cordiality of Marti and my secret longing forced
me to go every day to diae and spend some time
with them. It was impossible for me to hide my
love. At the risk of being observed (not by Marti,
who was innocence personified, but by the others),
I scarcely quitted the sight of Cristina. Whenever
occasion presented, I made plain what was passing
in my soul. If she dropped anything upon the
floor, I was there to hasten and pick it up. If she
94

The Joy of Captain Ribot

glanced towards the door, I had already run to close
it. If she complained of any ill feeling, I pro-
posed all the remedies imaginable. In short, I
showed to all concerned a lively interest and
anxiety that came from my heart. She received
these attentions with a serious face, sometimes with
a certain diffidence; but I understood that she
would not permit herself to take the slightest no-
tice, and this sufficed me.

One day I grew more daring. Showing no such
intention, I went nearer and nearer to her until my
arm touched her dress. Then she got up brusquely
and placed herself elsewhere. These silent rebuffs
produced a melancholy impression upon me. But
I was compensated by other enjoyments, fanciful,
perhaps, but that did not hinder their being de-
licious. When we were sitting at table, although
as I have said she took great pains not to look at
me face to face, she could not help glancing about,
and her eyes would meet and thrill my own.
When this happened, I believed I could see that
her face colored slightly.

Love did not wholly stifle my powers of observa-
tion. I mean to say that I loved the wife of Marti
and studied her at the same time. I soon came to
see and understand that beneath her rare and
gracious mingling of timidity and ease of manner,
of insistent happiness and supercilious seriousness,
there existed in her a depth of exquisite sensibility,
95

The Joy of Captain Ribot

carefully and even ferociously guarded. The
modesty of sentiment was so strong in her that
any manifestation of tenderness caused it to re-
treat. She preferred to pass for hard and cold
rather than that anyone should read her soul.

Unlike her mamma, who was delighted to re-
ceive endearments, and who kissed everybody, she
never gave a caress to any member of her family,
and avoided receiving one whenever possible. Her
husband himself, when he found himself a little
rebuffed, took it with his jolly shout, accepting
everything with a laugh. In spite of this they all
loved her dearly, and looked upon her coldness as
a graceful oddity, with which it pleased her at
times to snub them a little.

Because of her character, the least expression of
affection from her lips had an inestimable value.
But it was necessary to turn it off and pretend that
it was not noticed. If it was observed and she
knew it, all was lost. She returned at once to her
brusqueness, cutting off gratitude with some ironi-
cal or disdainful speech. She also had the spirit
of contradiction well developed; that is to say, she
was wont to antagonize other people, not from
pride or ill-humor, as I was soon convinced, but
rather because of her great reserve, which made it
repugnant to her to show the real strength of her
feelings.

And with all this — an extraordinary thing! —
96

The Joy of Captain Ribot

there was never a creature whose features expressed
more fully the movements and emotions of her
spirit, even to the faintest shades of thought.
Whatever dominated her for the moment, whatever
stirred her, in spite of barred fortress that she
sought to guard, was revealed in her eyes, in the
changeful lights on her face, in all her gestures and
movement.

Marti showed himself every day franker and
more cordial towards me. This, it may he divined,
made it possible for none but a villain to breathe
in an enterprise against him. And I, who did not
hold myself that, was embarrassed and saddened.
We were inseparable from the first. Ifot only did
we dine and take our coffee together, but he often
insisted that I should accompany him while he
was attending to his business; he soon made me his
confidant and even asked me to give him advice.
At last, after I had been five or six days in Valencia,
he joyously proposed that we should thee-and-thou
each other, and without waiting for my response
began to do so with a cordiality that touched me.
I experienced a mingled pride and humiliation,
pleasure and pain; thinking how the confidence of
this man brought me nearer his wife, yet held me
all the more removed from her morally. I had
occasion to prove this only a few hours afterwards.
When we were again at the house, I, out of shyness,
did everything possible to conceal that we had so
7 97

The Joy of Captain Ribot

soon adopted a new method of addressing each
other. Marti made it plain directly. Cristina
lifted her head surprised, looked at us both an in-
stant, and dropped her eyes again, but not before I
had, I believed, surprised in them an expression
of annoyance. I guessed what passed in her soul.

Marti invited me the next day to visit his estate
at Cabaiial, where he had certain orders to give
about the house and garden. The family was
usually installed there by May, the present month;
but this year, on account of the happy event that
was expected, the moving out had been postponed.

We made the trip on foot, by the road and across
the fields, in order to see the farms and gardens
that lie between the city and the sea. I consented
with good will, and at the hour for the promenade
we started out upon our way, walking slowly until
we reached the place.

My companion never closed his mouth after we
came out of the house. The discussion of his af-
fairs engrossed him to such an extent that he paid
no attention to the delicious country, carpeted with
flowers, whose white cottages seemed like doves
alighted near us. Eound about every one of the
little houses with their sharp-pointed roofs grew a
grove of orange-trees, pomegranates, and algarro-
bos. Beyond were cultivated fields with flowers
and vegetables, some set with roses, lilies, carna-
tions, gillyflowers; and others with strawberries,
98

The Joy of Captain Ribot

alfalfa, and artichokes. Ktuming about among
them on the well-beaten paths were beautiful
brunette children, who stopped to gaze at us with
their deep, dark eyes. The father of the family,
bending to his task, would always lift his head as
we passed and salute us gravely and silently, lift-
ing his hand to his hat of coarse straw.

Marti did not see this, and scarcely the road we
were walking on.

" One of two things! Either this business of the
artesian wells will turn out well, ia which case I
not only hope soon to get a return on the capital
employed, but I shall also make a good income for
myself and my heirs; or it will turn out badly, and
then it will look as if the capital were lost, but it
will not really be so, because of my disposition and
personal knowledge, trained and skilful in this
class of work, which I think I should immediately
use in making canals from a river in the province
of Almeria, where there are great tracts of land
that might prove very productive if watered,
and which need only irrigation and ways of com-
munication. It is a project that I have been turn-
ing over in my head for several years. You know
well how much time and money it takes in Spain to
get people together for this sort of business. Not
only are directors, capitalists, and superintendents
lacking, but even workmen who know how to carry
out a certain class of works that I undertake. Well,
99

The Joy of Captain Ribot

whether the artesian wells turn out well or ill, I
still have this knowledge ready at my command."

" That seems to me exactly the idea," I said,
absorbed in the contemplation of the beautiful,
variegated floral carpet that was spread before us.

" Yes, I think that's it! " exclaimed Marti, with
emphasis. "But these ideas, friend Eibot," he
went on, gayly flinging out his arms as if to em-
brace all mankind, " these ideas only come after
some years of experience, and not even then unless
one has practical sense and a vocation for business."

" Yes, aptitudes can be developed, but they can-
not be acquired."

" There is my brother-in-law, Sabas. I make
superhuman efforts to discover in him some ability,
something he can do, and I only succeed in putting
myself out. Whatever matter I confide to his care,
even if I give him precise and deflnite instructions,
he manages to knock all to pieces. It has got so
tiresome that I leave him in peace and employ
him in nothing whatever."

I could not help thinking that this punishment
was not found very cruel by the brother-in-law,
and yet it came into my imagination that he might
have purposely provoked it as certain naughty chil-
dren provoke it from their teachers, but I kept
these and my other observations to myself.

" It is very different with my friend Castell. Of
wide and penetrating talent, with a remarkable
100

The Joy of Captain Ribot

mind, immense learning, a profound knowledge of
the sciences and arts, and even of mechanics — but
from the first moment of application he is discour-
aged by the least scrap of an obstacle in his way.
He is all obstacles and doubts and scruples. He
loses heart before he begins anything and he has
given up business. To carry out an industrial
enterprise a knowledge of the matter is not enough;
it must be studied; it is necessary that the one who
undertakes it should possess an essentially positive
mind — above all, that he should have, like me, an
iron will."

Little by little we drew nearer to Cabanal. I
have already described these shores of the sea whose
great plain lies blue beneath the sun. We walked
on enveloped in its light and breathing the fragrant
air. The joyfulness of such a scene, serene and
luminous as a picture by Titian, the idyllic bits that
we came upon here and there, entered into the soul
and overflowed it with a gentle felicity. In all
this ]oy, this soft tranquillity, Marti with his beau-
tiful, waving locks, his great, innocent eyes, did not
seem to me so forcible a man as he wished to ap-
pear, not altogether of iron.

Before coming to the first houses of the village
we turned ofE to the left. There at a distance was
a white villa that Marti told me was his property.
On the way I saw a curious plot of ground whose
walls were made of perfectly symmetrical and
101

The Joy of Captain Ribot

equal-sized stones. These walls seemed to be in
ruins, and through great openings I could discern
certain structures, great iron pipes, rusted and
fallen in pieces to the ground, wheels and other
portions of machinery.

" What is this? " I asked, surprised.

Marti coughed before replying, pulled a bit at his
shirt cuffs, and declared, with a gesture between
peevishness and shamefacedness:

" Nothing — ^a factory of artificial stones."

" But it does not seem to be running."

" 'No."

" Whom does it belong to? "

" To me."

I shut up, because I understood how much the
subject mortified him. We went on several steps
without deigning to cast another look upon the
abandoned factory, when, turning, he suddenly
exclaimed:

'" Don't imagine that I didn't know how to
manufacture stone — all these walls are built of
the products of the factory. Take up a piece of
the stone and examine it."

I took up a piece, examined it, and saw that in
fact it had, in appearance at least, all the necessary
qualities of resistance, li gave me pleasure to say
so. Marti explained that the failure of the factory
was due to the scarcity of workmen. Valencia was
a province that for centuries had neglected indus-
102

The Joy of Captain Ribot

trial for agricultural pursuits; it lacked hands.
Then the manager had not properly filled his place;
the increase on tariffs and freights, etc., etc.

The subject was undoubtedly vexatious to my
friend. He spoke of it in a low voice, with a frown
on his forehead, and he avoided looking at the
unlucky factory. So in order to mortify him no
more, I showed the least possible interest in all
the rusting machinery, and went onward without
bestowing another particle of attention upon it.

We came at last to the walls of his grounds. "We
entered them by a wrought-iron gateway, and
crossed a handsomely laid-out garden to approach
the house. This was a modest structure, but suffi-
ciently spacious, and furnished within in consider-
able luxury. The furniture, suitable for the sum-
mer season, was simple and elegant. But that
which roused my enthusiasm was the extensive
park that stretched beyond, whose walls reached
to the seashore, upon which it opened by a
wrought-iron gateway. Formerly this had been a
productive field. But first Martl's father and then
himself had transformed it into a vast garden.
Shady, gravelled pathways were bordered by
orange-trees, lemons, pomegranates, and many
other sorts of fruit-trees. Here was a little grove
of laurels, and in the middle of it was a stone table
surrounded by chairs. There was a grotto tapes-
tried with jasmine and honeysuckle; yonder was
103

The Joy of Captain Ribot

a thicket of cannas, or cypresses, and in the centre
a statue of white marble. And like a base for
decoration, there was the azure line of the sea, into
whose waves seemed ready to fall the oranges that
hung from the boughs. The sun, that was already
sinking, enveloped the garden and the sea with a
sudden blaze of illumination; its golden rays were
scattered over the white paths of the enclosure,
made the whitewashed house resplendent, pene-
trated the thickets of cypress and laurel, lighting
up the marble faces of the statues, and hung droop-
ing from the branches of the trees like threads of
the gold of waving tresses. At the right were
visible over the walls the masts of little fishing
boats with their simple rigging, and yonder ex-
tended the town of Cabanal in a rare and pictur-
esque blending of fishermen's cots and aristocratic
mansions wherein the grandees of the city came
to spend the summer. More distant still was the
port and the tall masts of steamboats.

Marti showed me all the grounds, although with-
out much pleasure or pride. Business, past and
future, burdened him; he did not know how to
throw it off. It was only when we came to a corner
next the beach that he was enough distracted for
a few moments to point out to me a summer-house
in the Greek style that was admirably introduced
into this smiling landscape. It was adorned within
by carved furniture brought from Italy, statues and
104

The Joy of Captain Ribot

vases. It had a little lookout balcony towards the
sea, and over the door was inscribed a name that
caused me a slight tremor.

" The building of this summer-house was a thing
of my wife's. That is why I had her name put
over the door."

From thence we returned to the house by new
and ever more beautiful and embowered pathways.
Before reaching it, we came upon a little artificial
hill, and, topping it, a bit of a castle. About it
was a little pond of water, imitating a moat. We
crossed it by means of a drawbridge, and ascended
by a narrow footpath between hedges of box and
orange, arriving at the top in the time that it takes
to tell of it. The path, because of its artful wind-
ings, produced the effect of being measured by rods,
instead of by inches. Over the door of the little
castle was engraved another name that also made
me tremble, although in a very different way.

" The idea of the little artificial hill was my
friend Castell's, and, naturally, it bears his name —
which is all the better that it exactly suits it," he
added, laughing.

For me the pun had much less charm. Perhaps
the antipathy with which the subject inspired me
had part in this. We entered the diminutive castle
and ascended to its roof. From there were ad-
mirably revealed not only the park, which did
not seem so vast, but also a good part of
105

The Joy of Captain Ribot

the cultivated grounds, all the harbor, and the
Puerto Nuevo and the grand expanse of the sea.
Above its innumerable wavelets, above the fresh-
ness and dark depths of the water hung the crystal
vault of the sky, dappled with delicate tints of rose.
The sun flung a river of gold across the waves.
Among the flowery fields and the fields of maize
shone the little white cottages nestled among their
oranges and cypresses. Beyond Valencia was
Miguelete, and in the distance the encircling moun-
tains, that at this hour seemed all of violet and
mauve and lilac.

" What is this hut? " I asked, disagreeably im-
pressed by the sight of an ugly brick structure
which reared itself up on the confines of the park.

" Fothing — that was an attempt at a beer manu-
factory," replied Marti dryly.

And again his brow was furrowed by the frown.

" And did it not get to the making of it? "

" Yes, there was some made. It turned out
badly on account of the quality of the water. The
maker, whom I got here from England, did not
explain this to me in time, and I was obliged to
waste money enough uselessly."

Coughing perfunctorily, he pulled at his shirt-
cuffs, ran his fingers through his hair, and hastily
descended the stair of the little castle, followed by
me. There was in every movement of this man
when he expressed pleasure or annoyance so much
106

The Joy of Captain Ribot

heartiness, such childlilie innocence, that I felt my-
self constantly more attracted to him. It seemed
to me that I had loved him for a great while.

When we came away from his estate the sun was
already setting behind the distant mountains. We
made our way around the house, and crossed the
grounds again and through the fields of maize, the
gardens and orchards. It was the hour of stopping
work, and the laborers in the fields, with their
Valencian kerchiefs about their heads, were resting
at the doors of their cottages under the sweet fresh
tendrils of vine-covered arbors. Their children
were climbing upon their knees and dancing about
them while the mothers prepared the rice for
supper.

107

CHAPTER VII.

WHEN" we arrived at the house, night had al-
ready fallen. The family was assembled in
the dining-room and the table set. Isabelita dined
at her cousin's, and Eetamoso and Dona Clara were
getting ready to leave without their daughter.
Sabas and Castell dined there also. We were joy-
ously welcomed, and all, except perhaps Cristina,
attacked me with questions concerning the impres-
sion that the country-place had made upon me. I
showed myself enthusiastic, not merely for cour-
tesy, but because I really was so. I enlarged hear-
tily upon the enchanting situation, the taste and
care with which the place was laid out, the elegance
of the Cristina pavilion (I believe that I insisted
too much on this point), and I finished by saying
that I should not find it unpleasant to spend all
my life there.

" In the Cristina pavilion? " asked Castell, with
his ironical smile.

" Why not? " I responded boldly, casting a quick
look at Marti's wife. She seemed to be thinldng
of something else at this moment, but I divined,
108

The Joy of Captain Ribot

none the less, that she did not lose a word of what
I said.

" Then it's your taste to live caged like a canary.
I also should like very well to live in that way, but
on condition that I should be taken care of by a
hand chosen by myself."

Saying this, he also looked out of the comer of
his eye at Cristiaa, who kept her face turned the
other way, and looked terribly dignified.

"But I, who am not a sybarite, make no con-
dition whatever," I returned, laughing.

Marti slapped his friend several times upon the
shoulder affectionately.

" As if we did not all know you, you old rascal!
You would live in the way you are talking about
a fortnight perhaps. At the end of that time you
would be so bored with your cage, with lovely
hands, and canary seed that you would throw it all
over."

Castell protested against this judgment, declar-
ing that fickleness in love depends not so much
upon the temperament and its changes as upon the
vague but pressing necessity that we all feel to
seek for the being who can respond to our inmost
sentiments, our most intimate aspirations, our
secret longings; or, to speak in more prosaic words,
although less clear also, those that adapt them-
selves exactly to our physical and moral individu-
ality.

109

The Joy of Captain Ribot

"I have not found — ^like you," he concluded
daringly, " among so many women, the one who
meets all the necessities of my being, many of them
unimportant perhaps, but none the less existent.
If, like you, or before you " (he uttered these words
in a peculiar manner), " I had chanced upon her,
then certainly my career of gallantry had ended,
and you would have had no cause to call me, as
now, an old rascal."

His attitude, his accents, and the furtive glances
that the rich ship-owner cast from time to time
upon Cristina while he was tailking, confirmed me
in the suspicion that I had conceived, whereof I
have not before had occasion to speak, that this
gentleman was paying court to the wife of his in-
timate friend and associate.

The effect of this dawning suspicion upon me
was deplorable. I already hated my rival; now to
myself I called him false friend, traitor, double-
faced! But at the same time a voice cried out in
my conscience that I, though a new friend, was not
perceptibly better. This voice distressed me in-
describably.

The talk went on, and Castell found occasion to
say all he chose to Cristina, as if nobody but her-
self could hear. His well-chosen words admirably
fitted the gestures, quick and speaking, wherewith
he emphasized them. Cristina talked with her
mother, but by her evident agitation and by the
110

The Joy of Captain Ribot

cloud of vexation which darkened her face I
guessed that she -was listening to what Castell said,
and that it was not to her liking. In that moment,
with a frown upon her forehead and a proud ex-
pression in her eyes, she seemed to me more ador-
able than ever.

Eetamoso, with his hat already on his head,
came up to Castell, and bending as if to speak in
his ear, but in reality talking loud enough to be
heard by his wife, said in his attractive Galician
accent:

" Senor Castell, you are in the right — ^like a
saint! The question hits the mark, hits the mark.
If I had not had such good judgment in choosing
a companion, what would have become of me, poor
fellow! What a darling! — eh? What a treasure!
Ssh! silence, keep the secret for the present, but I
wouldn't have had two pesetas. Silence, ssh! "

And arching his eyebrows and making up faces
expressive of admiration and restrained bliss, he
moved away, shuffling his feet. His beloved better
half, who had heard perfectly well, gave him a
sidewise look which was not shining with gratitude,
and turning up her hawk's nose, she said good-
night to us with imposing severity.

We were now all standing up and preparing to
seat ourselves at the table. Marti, observing that
his piece of bread was a little broken, exclaimed
jestingly:

111

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" Aha, I think I find here the footprints of my
little mouse, don't I, Cristina? "

She smiled assent.

" I suppose I'll be banished for picking at your
bread, some day."

Then, as Marti turned to talk with Castell, I
went up to the table carelessly and, pretending
something else, eontriyed to get a morsel of the
bread that Cristina had picked at, and ate it with
inexplicable pleasure. This did not escape her,
and I noticed that her face took on a slightly an-
noyed expression.

" Come, come to dinner, and everyone to his
place! " she cried, with a pretty grimace of vexa-
tion.

I obeyed humbly, and seated myself in my ac-
customed place. The dinner was a gay one.

Marti was talkative and full of fun. As if he
had not until then made enough of the beauties of
his estate at Cabanal, he enlarged upon them with
an enthusiasm that I had communicated to him on
our walk. He ended by proposing that we should
go there afternoons for picnics, since circumstances
hindered the moving out altogether. It is needless
to say with what delight I heard this proposition.
Cristina welcomed it with pleasure, and also the
others at the table. Sabas remarked, with his
habitual gravity, that perhaps he should not be
able to go every day.

112

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" No; we know already that we need not count
upon you. It would not do, would it — to throw
over all business in the Plaza de la Eeina and
the Cafe del Siglo? " said his sister, laughing.

" It isn't that, my girl! " exclaimed the elegant
creature, piqued. " You know that I am not par-
ticularly fond of rural amusements."

" Yes, yes, I know that you are one of the citified,
and cannot breathe except in an atmosphere of
tobacco smoke."

Dona Amparo hastened, as always, to the rescue
of her son.

" It will please me very much if Sabas does not
go, for picnics always disagree with his stomach."

" What would it matter to Cristina if I had to
stay shut up? " exclaimed the critic with an affec-
tation of bitterness.

"Poor little thing! You get on admirably on
late suppers at the club, with olives and cham-
pagne."

Marti intervened and cut off the dispute between
them, seeing that Dona Amparo was already mak-
ing ready to faint away. Everyone has his own
preferences in the matter of amusements and it was
folly to try to impose our own upon others.
"Everybody has a right to be happy in his own
way," and if Sabas found himself happier under a
roof than under the open sky, he had no wish to
disturb him.

8 113

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" All that I beg," lie ended by saying, " is, that
although he is not to be of the party, that he will
let Matilde and the children come with us."

Sabas generously granted this petition, and all
friction seemed to be ended; but Cristina, who still
wished to tease him a little, said with a mischievous
smile:

" Of course we understand that this means the
afternoons when she has no buttons to sew on."

" Cristina, Cristina! " cried Marti, half vexed,
half laughing.

We all did all we could to restrain our laughter.
Sabas shrugged his shoulders with apparent dis-
dain, but remained surly the rest of the evening.

The next day and the days thereafter, without
his honorable company but with that of Matilde
and the eldest of his children, we made our excur-
sions to Cabanal.

Marti and Castell's carriages took us thither
directly after breakfast, and brought us to the city
at sunset. This time was spent chatting on the
upper balcony of the summer-house while the ladies
embroidered or sewed, or we went out into the
park, where we played like children with balls or
hoops.

Sometimes we left the place and ran about the

village or went down on the beach, where we were

greatly entertained by watching the fishing boats

coming in; at other times we directed our footsteps

114

The Joy of Captain Ribot

into the country, visited some of the cottages, usu-
ally that of a certain Tonet, an old servant of
Marti's, who owned the little farm where he lived.
There we often rested, and his wife welcomed us
with chocolates or peanuts or served us some other
refreshment.

But the important business of the afternoon was
the picnic, or rather its preparation. For it inter-
ested us that the picnic was spread and eaten in the
open air. We carried the alcohol stove and the
rest of the things to some distant and shady place
in the park. The ladies put on their aprons; the
gentlemen, in shirt-sleeves, made chocolate or coffee,
or fried fish that we had just bought on the beach,
and passed a happy time. How happy I was when
the party gave me the task of stewing up some
sailor's dish, and I went about among my scullions
and scuUionesses with the stewpan in my hands,
despotically giving them exact orders and some-
times — who would believe it? — agoing so far as to
forget that I was in love!

Yet I was more and more in love all the time;
there is no doubt about that. Neither when I said
to Cristina in an imperious tone, "Bring me the
salt! " nor, when I reproved her sharply for cutting
the fish up into too small pieces, did it even enter
my imagination that a more perfect creature could
ever have existed under the sun. In the country the
supercilious severity that I had often remarked in
115

The Joy of Captain Ribot

her disappeared. Her mood was gay, changeful,
lively, and she invented a thousand tricks to make
us laugh, while from her lips witticisms flowed
continuously. She was the soul of our excursions,
the salt that seasoned them.

I could not keep my eyes away from her. I
listened to her and stared at her like an idiot.
Sometimes, though not often, she made me feel
that I was carrying water in a sieve. For example,
one afternoon, standing in the summer-house, she
showed us a thimble that she had bought. Every-
body examined it, and I also -after the others, then
I contrived to keep it without being noticed. A
good while passed; nothing more was said about the
thimble. But when we left the mirador to go to
our picnic she crossed in front of me and said with-
out looking at me:

" Put the thimble in this little basket."

It was of no use to be cunning and crafty with
her. She saw everjrthing; she observed everything.

Another afternoon, when her sister-in-law Ma-
tilde was playing on the piano and she standing
turning the leaves of her music, I stole up silently
from behind. Pretending to find myself enrap-
tured by the music and looking closely at its sheets,
I devoured with my eyes her alabaster neck and the
fine, soft hair, there where the black locks of her
head seemed to die away and be lost like ex-
quisite music that melts in pianissimo. Well, then
116

The Joy of Captain Ribot

as if she had eyes for seeing what was behind her,
she raised her hand to the neck of her dress and
pulled it up with a gesture of impatience. It was
an admonition and a reprimand. But in spite of
her dumb rebuffs and reproofs and although she
used seldom to look at me, I felt myself happy be-
side her. And this was because in these rebuffs
and in the sternness of her countenance I found no
distaste for myself, nor desire to mortify me.
Everything emanated from a noble, if exaggerated,
sentiment of dignity, without counting the intense
affection that she professed for her husband, of
which she constantly gave clear proof. Nor in this
either was she unworthy the exquisite delicacy of
her sentiments. Instead of showing herself tender
and submissive towards him as so many women
would have done in her case, she shunned showing
any fondness in my presence and, whenever it was
possible, avoided the caresses that he would have
given her. Sometimes he laughingly asked her the
reason for such severity, but she remained in-
flexible.

Of her sense of justice and the instinct that in-
spired it she gave witness more than once, al-
though it was always tacit. I had gone to the
house one morning. There was no one in the
dining-room but herself and her mother. She hap-
pened to ask for a glass of water. I took it upon
myself to anticipate the servant, went to the side-
117

The Joy of Captain Ribot

board, took a goblet and a little tray, and was about
to pour out the water and serve her when she inter-
rupted me dryly:

" No, let it be. I am not thirsty now; it was a
whim."

I was very much crestfallen, and even more sad-
dened than humiliated. I cut short my visit and
retired. That afternoon I stayed at the fonda and
did not go to Cabanal as usual.

At night I went to the house when they were
finishing supper, entered with a stern countenance,
and did not try to glance at her. But I saw plainly
that she looked at me, and I wished her to keep
on until I saw a humble expression on her face.

In a few moments she addressed me with unusual
amiability, seeking to make amends. I stood my
ground rigidly. Then she said in a clear voice
and with a gracious smile that I can never forget:

" Captain Eibot, will you do me the favor to pour
a little water into one of those goblets and bring
it to me?"

I served her, smiling. She smiled a little too
before drinking it, and my resentment was melted
like ice in the warmth of that smile.

Castell was always one of the party on our excur-
sions to Cabanal. Sometimes, though rarely, he
drove out alone in one of his traps.

I no longer doubted that he paid court to Cris-
tina and had also observed the love that I felt for
118

The Joy of Captain Ribot

her. But he owed it to his immeasurable pride
not to seem to notice a rival so little formidable; I
could not see the slightest change in him. He
continued to treat me with the same refined cour-
tesy, not exempt from patronage, and — why should
I not say it? — with also a sort of benevolent com-
passion. It is true that Castell extended this com-
passion towards all created beings, and I think I
should not be wrong in affirming that it went be-
yond our planet and diffused itself among other
and distant stars. As a general rule, he listened
to nobody but himself; but at times, if he were
in the humor, he would iavite us to express our
opinions, making us talk with the complacency
shown to children; listening, smiling sweetly at our
nonsensical chatter and our little mistakes. It was
a regular secondary-school examination. When he
deigned to pry into my limited field of knowledge
I could not help fancying myself a microscopic
insect that had by chance fallen into his hands,
that he twirled and tortured between his encircling
fingers.

They all listened to him with great deference.
Marti ever showed himself proud of having such a
friend, and believed in good faith that neither in
Spain nor in foreign lands existed a man to com-
pare with him — ^in the world of theory, of course,
because in practical matters, Marti was all there,
as I knew,

119

The Joy of Captain Ribot

But Isabelita, Cristina's cousin, listened to him
with even more absorption. It is impossible to
imagine a more complete attention, an attitude
more submissive and devoted than that of this girl
with a profile like an angel, when Castell held
forth. Her pure and pearl-like face was turned
towards him; she sat perfectly still as if in ecstasy;
the lashes of her innocent eyes did not move.

The one who took the least pleasure in the dis-
sertations of the rich ship-owner was, as far as I
could see, Cristina. Although she forced herself
to hide it, I was not long in divining that the
science of her husband's friend and associate did
not interest her. She often grew absent-minded
and, whenever she could find a plausible pretext,
she would leave the room. Can it be supposed
that this lack of reverence for a representative of
science lowered her in my eyes? I think not!

I noted further that, although Cristina joined
apparently the projects of her husband, and never
contradicted him when he discussed them with
his usual frankness before us, she showed lively
vexation when Castell encouraged them. When
the millionaire, therefore, would begin a pompous
eulogy of Marti, praising in affected language his
clear sight, his decision and activity, Cristina's
face would change; her cheeks would lose their
delicate rose-color; her brow would be knitted, and
her beautiful eyes would take on a strange fixity.
130

The Joy of Captain Ribot

Usually she eoidd not stand it to the end. She
would get up and leave the room abruptly. The
good Emilio, intoxicated with gratitude and pleas-
ure, took no notice of this.

What a soul was that of this man, how noble,
how sensitive, how generous! Chance brought to
my knowledge a magnanimous action that raised
him still more in my eyes. With the freedom
that he had given me from the first, I entered his
private office one day unannounced at a rather in-
opportune moment. His mother-in-law sat sob-
bing (for a change) in an arm-chair, and he with his
back towards the door was opening his safe. On
hearing me he turned and quickly shut the door
of the safe. He seemed a little more serious and
thoughtful than usual, but the generous expres-
sion of his face had not disappeared. He greeted
me, making an effort to appear cheerful; then turn-
ing to his mother-in-law and putting one hand
upon her shoulder, he said affectionately:

" Come, mamma, there is nothing to grieve
about. Everything will be arranged this afternoon,
without fail. Come now, go to Cristina and rest
a little. You must not make yourself ill."

" Thank you, thank you! " murmured the suffer-
ing lady, without ceasing to weep and blow her
nose.

Eeeovering finally at least a part of her ener-
gies, she left the place, not without giving me a
131

The Joy of Captain Ribot

strong, convulsive grasp of the hand and drawing
her son-in-law to the door for three or four kisses.
He shook his head and said, smiling:

" Poor woman! "

I gave him a glance of interrogation, not ven-
turing to put the question in words. Marti
shrugged his shoulders and murmured:

" Tss! It's the same as always. Her son abuses
the bounty of this poor woman and it gives her a
great deal of trouble."

As I perceived that he did not wish to go into
further explanations, I refrained from inquiries,
and we talked of other things. But a moment
later Cristina came into the of&ce, not in a good
temper, and asked him:

" Mamma has been begging money of you, hasn't
she? "

" No, my girl," replied Marti, coloring a little.

"Don't deny it to me, Emilio. I have known
all since this morning."

" Very well, what of it? The thing is not worth
wrinkling this little brow," he answered, touching
it tenderly.

Cristina remained silent and thoughtful a few
moments.

"You know," she said at last firmly, "that I

have never opposed your expenditures for Sabas.

I have enjoyed your generosity towards all, but

your treatment of my brother has especially pleased

123

The Joy of Captain Ribot

me. Yet I have asked myself sometimes, 'Will
this generosity of Bmilio have really good conse-
quences? Will it not encourage my brother to
continue in his idle and dissipated habits? ' If he
were alone in the world, he might indulge in such
luxurious ways without much danger. When he
came to want, you could, by reducing him to strict
necessities, keep him on his feet. But he has a
wife, he has children, and I fear that they will have
to bear the consequences of your generosity and of
the habits which, thanks to your kindness, their
father does not abandon. And, too," she added in
low tones that trembled a little, "at present we
have no great responsibilities, but we shall have
them "

" I believe you; we shall have them! " exclaimed
Marti. " It looks to me as if the first of them
would not be many days in arriving! "

Cristina's cheeks colored swiftly. Bmilio, chang-
ing his tone, went over to her, put his arm about
her shoulders affectionately, and said to her:

" You are right in this, as you are in everything
that you say. You are a hundred times more sensi-
ble than I am. Perhaps I should have refused
Sabas if he had come begging of me, because I
am already a little tired of his affairs; but your
mother comes — when I see her crying — you don't
know how that moves me."

Cristina lifted to him her eyes shining with im-
123

The Joy of Captain Ribot

mense gratitude, her face quivering with feeling;
fearing that she could not control her emotion,
she suddenly left the room.

" Poor little thing! " said Marti, smiling once
more. " She is very right. Sabas is a bore."

" He gambles, doesn't he? " I ventured, because
of the confidence that had been shown me.

"It would be better to say he is skinned by
sharpers. What a fellow! He has lost, and prom-
ised to pay, five thousand pesetas."

" He promises it, and you have to pay it."

" Possibly. But what is to be done? It is not
all his fault. He has a mother who is too soft."

"And a brother-in-law who is too kind," I
thought.

Marti put his arm across my shoulders, and we
went thus to the sewing-room to find Cristina and
Dona Amparo. They were both there, the first
frowning and meditative, the other completely
overcome by her emotions. Matilde came in pres-
ently to breakfast with them. I perceived that she
was sad and seemed as if ashamed. Soon after two
ladies dropped in for an intimate call, and conver-
sation cleared up the heavy atmosphere of the
room.

Cristina went out for a moment to attend to some

of her domestic matters, and I noted that she left

her handkerchief forgotten upon her chair. Then,

with the dissimulation and ability of an accom-

134

The Joy of Captain Ribot

plished thief, I went over to it, sat down as if
absent-mindedly, and when nobody noticed, I took
the precious object and hid it in my pocket. Cris-
tina appeared again, and I noticed that she glanced
about at all the chairs in search of her hand-
kerchief; then she shot a glance at me, and, I
firmly believe, guessed from my manner that I had
it. Then not daring to ask me for it aloud and at
the same time unwilling to give up and let it pass
that she allowed me to have it, she went about
searching in all the corners of the room, asking:
"Where can my handkerchief be?"
liTobody but me observed it, because all the rest
were absorbed in conversation. At last I saw her
sit down in her chair, take up her work, and go on
with it in silence.

I went away to luncheon at the fonda, without
accepting their invitation to remain. I had a
vehement desire to enjoy my precious conquest by
myself; for I considered it such in my mad pre-
sumption after she gave over looking for it. Once
in my quarters and assured that the door was fas-
tened, and that nobody could see me through the
key-hole, I snatched the kerchief from my pocket
and gave myself up to a sort of madness which even
now makes me blush when I remember it. I
breathed its perfume with intoxication, kissed it
numberless times, pressed it to my heart, swearing
to be eternally faithful, put it away with the pict-
135

The Joy of Captain Ribot

ures of my father, took it out to kiss it, and put it
away again. At last I eame to the end of all
imaginable extravagances, better suited to a young
student of rhetoric than to the captain of a steam-
boat of three thousand tons.

136

CHAPTER VIII.

IN the afternoon I was with the family at Ca-
banal as usual. Marti did not accompany us,
having to attend to a certain business matter. (Did
it have to do with the five thousand pesetas that his
brother-in-law had lost?) At all events, I was self-
ish enough to rejoice at his absence. During the
trip out and the hours that we stayed at the place,
I observed something in Cristina's manner and
gestures that made my heart tremble with joy and
hope. I cannot explain how, without her looking
at me nor once speaking directly to me, I felt over-
whelmed by a celestial happiness, but so it was.
We passed all the afternoon in the summer-house.
The ladies worked at their sewing or embroidery.
I read or made believe to read. Cristina, affected
by an unusual languor, did not rise from her chair
until the moment of leaving. While the others
laughed and jested, I saw that she kept silence and
was grave although without any apparent cause.
Her face was slightly flushed. My imagination
suggested to me the idea that it was because of the
thoughts drifting through her soul, and the timidity
127

The Joy of Captain Ribot

that they inspired. On the dark and gloomy hori-
zon of my life light began to dawn; so my heart said
to me. During that unforgettable afternoon, I was
as happy as the angels must be in Paradise, or the
author of a drama when he goes out on the stage
to receive applause between the leading old man
and young lady.

After dining at my hotel I went to take coffee at
the Siglo, with the intention of going thence to
Marti's house. I encountered Sabas on entering,
his pipe in his mouth, seated among several of his
friends, whom he was haranguing in his own solemn
and judicial manner. He saluted me from a dis-
tance with a wave of the hand, and presently see-
ing that I was alone, separated himself from the
group and came to join me.

He was in a jovial mood and did not seem in the
least cast down by his folly of the day before, nor
ashamed of it. We talked of our daily excursions
to Cabanal, and I described them as very lively and
delightful. He did not care to contradict me
openly, but I understood by his gestures more than
by his words that he looked upon all that as child-
ishness unworthy a serious and mature man like
himself. For one who could appreciate them,
Valencia held pleasures more highly flavored, other
fasciaations; and he was sorry that I was out of
them without tasting them. He did not say what
they Were, but from what I already knew, it was
128

The Joy of Captain Ribot

readily to be supposed that they had some relation
direct or indirect with roulette.

" Have you seen the famous stone factory? " he
asked me in serious tones, although his eyes
gleamed with a malicious smUe.

" Yes, I have seen it."

" A fine business! And also the celebrated beer
distillery?"

" Also."

" Better business yet! isn't it? "

Then sounded in the depths of his throat a
chuckle that could not be uttered because at that
moment he was earnestly sucking his pipe. I was
confused, as if he had said something offensive
about one of my family, and I responded vaguely
that certain enterprises turn out well, and others
Ul, and that their fortunes depend upon fortuitous
circumstances more than upon the intelligence and
industry of whosoever undertakes them.

" Tell that of others, but not of my brother-in-
law," he answered with sarcastic gravity. "Emi-
lio's enterprises are always brilliant, because his is
a practical genius, essentially practical."

" He seems to me a very clever man," I remarked
with some embarrassment.

" Not at all; not at all; I will not admit a bit of
it. His is a practical, and his friend Castell's a
theoretical genius."

" We have already talked a little about that," I
9 129

The Joy of Captain Ribot

replied smiling, to turn his scalpel away from the
unpleasant subject.

" They are both geniuses, each one in his own
fashion, the only geniuses that we have in Valen-
cia."

I did not know what to say. That sarcastic tone
annoyed me extremely. Sabas must have observed
this, because exchanging it at last for another more
serious, he set himself to make, as usual, a careful
and reasonable analysis of his brother-in-law's
conduct. It was something to see and to admire,
the gravity, the aplomb, the air of immense supe-
riority with which that man talked over others, the
penetration with which he uncovered the hidden
motives of all their acts, the incontrovertible force
of his arguments, the sorrowful divination with
which he formulated them. It was such that I
could not do less than acknowledge to myself that
every one of his observations hit the mark; but al-
though I knew this, I was both astounded and in-
dignant while I listened. I tried to hold the oppo-
site side, but I could see that this only served to
make clearer the perspicacity and conclusiveness of
his judgments, and when I had taken my coffee and
smoked a cigar, I got away from him.

"For all that," I said, shaking his hand, "I
have no room for doubt that Emilio is a very good
fellow, and full of talent."

" Agreed! " he responded, returning the hand-
130

The Joy of Captain Ribot

shaking, " but confess that a little common sense
would be useful to him! "

I left the cafe angry and miserable. I was very
glad to get away from the sight of the dolt who had
spoUed my morning. I directed my steps slowly
towards the house of Marti, but on the way my
thoughts took a sadly audacious direction. I was
filled with a moral suffering, that had since morn-
ing afflicted me; this, mingling with my flatteriag
hopes, made me so that I had not strength to mount
the steps, and in front of the door I turned about,
went to my hotel, and went to bed.

That was for me a memorable night! As soon
as I had put out the light I understood that it was
going to be long indeed before I could woo sleep
to come to me. A whirl of wild thoughts filled my
brain, disordering, agonizing. The lovely vision of
Cristina came in the centre of all, but did not suc-
ceed in calming their ardor, nor controlling them.
In vain fancy called up the scene of the hand-
kerchief and that adorable face, softened and
moved, the sight whereof had made me happy all
day long. In vain I invoked the celestial felicity
that sooner or later must descend upon me.
Whether it was illusion or reality, I thought that
the fruit was ripening, and already responded with
delicate tremors to the continued shaking that my
hand gave the bough. Perhaps it would be long in
falling into my lap. But I ought to confess that
131

The Joy of Captain Ribot

this alluring future possibility did not leave me
peaceful and joyous as I had hoped. I tried to be-
come so by closing my eyes, but this did not do it.
My eyes were only the more widely open. My
forehead burned my hand when I passed it across
it. I experienced a strange restlessness that obliged
me to change my position constantly. The curious
suffering whose first slight stings I had felt during
the day, now pierced me fiercely and intolerably.

This suffering was nothing else but remorse. To
be really happy it is a necessity that a man should
be contented with himself, and I was not. Another
image, melancholy and grief-stricken, followed al-
ways after that of Cristina in the interminable pro-
cession of my thoughts, disturbing the happiness
of which I had had a glimpse. It was that of Marti.
Poor Emilio! so good, so generous, so innocent!
His mother-in-law wrung money out of him and
would have ruined him to support her son in his
idleness; his friend, whom he looked" upon as a
brother, deceived him; his brother-in-law, upon
whom he heaped kindnesses, ridiculed him pub-
licly. He had no heart near him that was loving
and faithful except that of his wife. And I, an
outsider, to whom he had offered so much frank
and affectionate hospitality, I would snatch it away!
The idea weighed down my heart, made me feel
myself disgraced. In vain I forced myself to
picture in lovely colors what it would be to be
183

The Joy of Captain Ribot

the lover of Cristina, to taste of the intense pleasure
of passion, and the joy of conquest. In vain I
tried to make my fault seem less by recalling to
mind the shortcomings of others. In my ears
sounded ever a voice assuring me that to go on
would be to be unhappy. And my quivering nerves
kept me tossing between the sheets with my eyes
ever more and more wide open.

The hours went by, sounding slowly, sonorously,
and sadly from the cathedral clock. I tried ear-
nestly to shut my eyes and go to sleep, but fiery, in-
visible fingers pressed open my eyelids. At last I
bounced out of bed, struck a light, dressed myself,
and began walking the floor. And when I had
paced back and forth for a while, searching the
most secret corners of my heart, I understood what
must of necessity be done. I had recourse to
chloral, more chloral than I had ever taken in
nights like this of sleeplessness and struggle. I
renounced my desires once for all, my hopes, the
enjoyments of love and the flatteries of self-love.
I entered into my spirit with a lash and drove from
it the perfidy of will which, for the few pleasures
that it gives us, causes us so many burning wounds.
This cost me labor, for it hid itself away in all sorts
of corners, obliging me to pursue it closely, leaving
it no point to stop upon. But at last I succeeded in
driving it out in sober earnest, and I stopped in
the middle of the room, tired out, perspiring like
133

The Joy of Captain Ribot

one who has performed some heavy task, but at
peace. I undressed again, lay down on the bed,
and the winged god, son of sleep and night, bore me
away in his arms to the mysterious palace of his
father.

"When I awoke, the sun, already high in the
heavens, was shedding its golden rays upon the
city. As soon as I had dressed myself I went di-
rectly to the house of Emilio. The husband and
wife were together in the sewing-room, and with
them were Dona Amparo, Isabelita, Dona Clara,
a dressmaker, and a domestic. The first question
that was asked me was where I had been the night
before. I excused myself with a headache. Cris-
tina, who was embroidering near the balcony, did
not lift her eyes, but I noted on her face the same
expression of gentle compassion that she had worn
during the episode of the handkerchief. And, too,
while I was talking with the others I saw that she
stole a swift and timid glance at me.

I improved a moment when all were occupied,
and approached her. Drawing the handkerchief
from my pocket, and in a voice so low that the
company could not hear me, yet not low enough to
make any secrets suspected, I said:

" I have carelessly kept a handkerchief of yours,
thinking that it was my own. Until I got home
I did not perceive my mistake. Here 'tis; take it."

She lifted her head and gave me a look of intense
134

The Joy of Captain Ribot

surprise; her face flushed a vivid carmine; she took
with a trembling hand the handkerchief that I held
out to her, and again bent her brow over her em-
broidery frame.

After that, tell me frankly if I have not the right
to laugh at Caesar, Alexander, Bpaminondas, and
at all the heroes of pagan antiquity in general! At
least I live in the intimate conviction (and this
thought makes me vastly greater in my own eyes)
that if Bpaminondas had found himself in my shoes
he would not have returned the handkerchief.

I turned anew to the group and joined the chat
with animation, although, perhaps, it was an ex-
cessive animation. My soul was profoundly moved
and it should be declared among these frank con-
fessions that, although I felt no pride in my hero-
ism, neither did I experience that sweet content
that the moralists say always accompanies good
actions.

I lunched with them and we went afterwards to
Cabanal, where the afternoon passed as merrily as
ever. But my gayety was only feigned; although I
wore myself out pretending it, and to divert my-
self, I am sure I cut a sorry figure.

Cristina did not care to hide her preoccupation.
All the afternoon she was thoughtful and serious,
even to the point of making herself remarked.

When night came, praise God! I would have op-
portunity to turn the key that locked up my
135

The Joy of Captain Ribot

thoughts and weighed down my soul, and ease my
pain a little.

It chanced that Marti had brought from his
library the works of Larra, and he read to us, to
pass the time, one of his most delicious pieces, en-
titled " El Castellano Viejo." We all laughed and
applauded the gifts and ingenuity of the great
satirical writer. From this we went on to talk of
his life and his tragic end in the flower of his youth,
for he was not yet twenty-eight years of age when
he voluntarily quitted this world.

" And why did he kill himself? " asked Matilde.

"For that which men usually kill themselves,
for — ^a woman! " answered Marti, laughing.

"I believe you! When they don't kill them-
selves on account of money," exclaimed the young
wife, showing herself a trifle annoyed.

" That kind have not wholly lost their senses,
but there are many more of the first sort," he re-
turned, laughing.

" Thanks, very much. And was she married or
single — ^this one who interested him?"

"Married. It is said that he maintained rela
tions with her during the absence of her husband,
that his return was announced, and that then she,
repentant or timid, made known to him her reso-
lution to break off with him. The grief of Larra
was so severe that he was not able to bear it, so he
shot himself."

186

The Joy of Captain Ribot

"But she did right, and he was very stupid to
leave life when he was so young and when there are
so many women to choose from and marry."

" He was already married," said Marti.

" He was married! " exclaimed the women in-
dignantly and all together.

" And had several children."

" Then he should be quartered! He ought to be
hung! The scoundrel should be east out with the
other refuse! It would serve him right! "

The wrath of the ladies made us laugh. Some-
one observed that she also was married, and that
this fact had not seemed to irritate them so much.

" Because women are weak creatures. Because
women do not run after men. Because they are
deceived by honeyed words. Because men rouse
their compassion, pretending to be mad and des-
perate! "

" You are right," I said, to calm them. " The
one who resists ought not to have the same re-
sponsibility, if failing at last, as the one who makes
the attack. But coming to the concrete example
of which we were talking, my opinion is that Larra
gave more proofs of suicidal egotism than of high
and delicate love. If he had really loved this
woman, he would have respected her penitence,
would have considered her all the more worthy of
adoration, and would have found in his own heart
and in the nobleness of the adored being resources
137

The Joy of Captain Ribot

to make life worth living. But to leave life, to
deprive his children of a father and his country
of a true Spaniard, makes me, at least, think that
he did not love his beloved for the lovable qualities
heaven had bestowed upon her, but for his own
sake."

The ladies joyfully agreed with me. This
roused Castell's pride of wisdom; or perhaps he
only gave way to his ever-present desire to instruct
his fellows, believing himself infallible. He leaned
back in his chair, and holding my attention by his
little finger glittering with rings, delivered a com-
plete course in philosophy. His was a well-linked
chain of reasoning, elegant sentences, a great abun-
dance of psychological, biological, and sociological
facts — all to show that "man is irrevocably fettered
to his own sensations; " that " no other sincere
motive exists except that of pleasing them; " " the
world is a battle without a truce; " " struggle is
the inevitable condition for the preservation and
upholding of the great machine of the universe,"
and so on.

" Without struggle, friend Eibot," he concluded,
" we should return to the condition of inert matter.
Combat trains us and strengthens us; it is the sole
guarantee of progress. He who, led away by a mad
notion, strives to suppress antagonism towards
other creatures attacks the very root of existence
and attempts to violate the most sacred of its laws."
138

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" Oh, yes! " I exclaimed with emotion. " He
would be mad, but I affirm that he would experi-
ence immense pleasure in attacking this sacred law.
I should like nothing better than to get up some
morning and smash it into bits. I have passed the
greater part of my life upon an element where this
sacred law demands a fervent worship. In the
depths of the sea the creatures devour one another
with indefatigable devotion; the greater religiously
swallow up the less. You may rest assured, Senor
Castell, that the great machine of the universe vri.ll
not suffer any damage from their sins. But I con-
fess frankly that I have never become accustomed
to these proceedings, wherein marine animals have
the advantage over terrestrial ones. Some nights
in summer, on the bridge of my boat, I have asked
myself: ' Is it possible that man is obliged to imi-
tate this ferocious struggle everlastingly, and be
forever implacable to all who are below him? Will
there not come a day when we will gladly renounce
it, when compassion will rise above interest, and
the pain that we cause not only to our fellow-beings,
but to any living creature, become unendurable
to us? ' "

"Dreams, nothing more! For are you the first
who has followed this chimera."

" Well, then, let us dream! " I cried, with more
passion than I suspected myself capable of, "let
us dream that this sad reality is no more than an
139

The Joy of Captain Ribot

appearance, a horrible nightmare from which per-
haps the human spirit will one day awaken. And
meanwhile so much! — ^let every man manufacture
his magic world and travel through it, compan-
ioned by love and friendship and virtue, by all those
beautiful visions that make life joyful. For life,
Senor Castell, however balanced and physiological
it may be, is a sad and insipid thing when the im-
agination is not moved to adorn it. If capricious
fortune should ever drag me, like Larra, into being
enamored of a woman who belonged to another "
(here my voice did not change in the least), " I
should not perfidiously attempt to gain her affec-
tion away from her husband, to win pleasure or joy.
At least, I should not hesitate to strike down my
own joy pitilessly. I should rather try to make use
of my poor imagination, as great Petrarch made use
of his divine one, to love her, to keep her image
sacred in the depths of my heart, to give her un-
selfish adoration; and my life, by contact with this
pure love, would gain elevation and nobility."

From the beginning of our talk I had felt the
eyes of Cristina resting upon me. Now I saw her
rise hastily and go to the piano to conceal her emo-
tion. Dona Clara, Matilde, and Isabelita ap-
plauded. Emilio, laughing, threw his arms about
my neck.

"What warmth, what enthusiasm. Captain! I
am a man essentially practical, and not in the least
140

The Joy of Captain Ribot

aWe to argue with Enrique; but you have answered
him, and said things very agreeable, and very fine,
and, what is rarer, you know how to say them very
well."

This was the truth, in spite of my modesty. It
was the -first and only time in my life that I felt
myself an orator. And if in that moment the di-
rectors of the Athenaeum at Madrid had invited
me there, I think I should not have minded giving
in the capital a lecture on "The Future of the Latin
Eaces," or any other topic however grand!

141

CHAPTEE IX.

FROM that day her attitude towards me changed
materially. She showed herself less diffident
and distrustful; she did not seek so carefully to
avoid looking me in the face. When I entered she
did not suddenly turn serious as she used. Little by
little her freedom of manner increased, making her
cordial, and affectionate too, within the hoimds of
her reserved temperament. Her delicacy hindered
her from recompensing me in words for what I had
uttered in her presence; but she used her ingenuity
to find a way to make me understand that she ap-
proved of me.

One afternoon there was talk of eertairi things
that had been bought and left forgotten in a shop.
Marti wished to send a servant for them. She said
with apparent indifference:

" Captain Eibot, do you not go through the Calle
de San Vicento? Then do me the favor to get
this parcel and bring it to me to-night."

I was overwhelmed with delight. At night
when I delivered it to her she received it with more
indifference than ever.

"Thanks!" she said dryly, without looking at me.
142

The Joy of Captain Ribot

It did not matter. I was sure she had given
me a reward. I felt happy and peaceful.

But next day, after this small bounty and grateful
success, adverse fate had prepared for me a graver
alarm than I had ever experienced in my life of
peril and hazard. Neither when I ran aground in
the Eio de la Plata, nor when the sea knocked
away the bridge and half our masts in the English
Channel, did I feel my heart so constricted by any
sudden encounter. The agent to furnish me with
this most cruel trial was Dona Amparo. We had
been chatting in this lady's sewtag-room, Cristina
and I. "While they worked I had been turning
over an album of portraits of all of the family and
many of their friends. I inquired, and Dona Am-
paro told me, who the originals were. Cristina
remained silent.

" Who is this charming child? " I asked, gazing
at the likeness of a little girl of ten or twelve years.
" What beautiful eyes! "

" Don't you recognize her? It is Cristina."

" Ah! " I exclaimed, surprised. And, looking
at her, I observed that she was crimson.

" She was then in school. Wasn't she very
lovely? "

" Yes, I think so," I stammered.

"Mamma, don't say such absurd things. She
looks like a picked chicken! " exclaimed the one
under discussion, laughing.
143

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" Like a picked chicken! " cried the mother in-
dignantly; "you were plump as possible. From
that time you have done nothing but lose ground.
I would give something to see you now as you were
then. And Eibot will say the same."

" Senora," I murmured, although in confusion,
" no doubt she was very beautiful at that time, but
I think that the present is better worth while."

Cristina blushed more yet, and bent over her
work serious and silent. Her mother did not
choose to drop the subject. I did not venture to
contradict her openly; I only uttered monosyllables
or phrases of doubtful interpretation. At last we
gave up this conversation, so dangerous to me. We
were told that the hairdresser had come, and Cris-
tina went to her room.

I continued turning over the album, and Dona
Amparo went on moving back and forth the ivory
needle of her lace-work. We preserved silence; but
three or four times, on lifting my eyes, I observed
that she was looking at me with irritating per-
sistence. Finally I could see that she laid down
her work, doubtless to look at me more to her
liking.

" Eibot," she uttered in a low voice.

I thought it well to seem deaf.

" Tss! Eibot."

" What did you say, senora? " I asked, pretend-
ing to come out of my great abstraction.
144

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" Look me in the face."

"How? I do not understand."

" Will you look me in the face? "

As I had not been doing anything else, this peti-
tion would have been tremendously absurd if it
had not been even more disquieting.

" Now, move your chair a little nearer."

This new demand appeared to me much more
disquieting. I drew up, none the less, according
to orders, dragging the chair with an ill-omened
squeak. Adopting a tranquil and unembarrassed
air, distinctly contrary to what would have suited
me at that instant, I waited for what it was she had
to say to me. Dona Amparo gazed at me smiling,
and then, with a deep look, she said:

" Eibot, you are in love with my daughter Cris-
tina! "

I grew pale, then crimson; afterwards other
shades of yellow, green, and blue. Indeed, I think
my face was a rainbow for the space of several
seconds.

" Senora! I! How can you suppose it? On
my life, what a notion! What an idea! "

Dona Amparo, on seeing me in such a terrible
state of agitation, became frightened, and turned
pale also. She reached out immediately for her
smelling-bottle; with one hand she held up my
head, and with the other put it under my nostrils.
I was given salts to smell in such a moment as that!
10 145

The Joy of Captain Ribot

I took my bitter cup as best I could, thanked her,
and, with smothered words and faltering tongue,
ascribed my emotion to my natural surprise. The
accusation was so grave that really

Dona Amparo smiled benevolently, doubtless to
calm me, and would not consent that we should say
another word before I took a drop of ether to for-
tify me. I swallowed it not without difficulty, for
my throat was constricted so that I was scarcely
able to breathe. Then, to mollify the just indig-
nation of this lady, I returned to my discomfited
and incoherent protestations against such a mon-
strous supposition.

I in love! How could it be possible that I
should have the hardihood, the audacity? Her
daughter was a model of all the virtues. Nobody
would have the rashness to offend her with other
sentiments than those of respect and admiration —
I least of all, a friend of Marti, who was such a
gentleman, so loyal, who had given me so many
proofs of unmerited esteem, etc., etc.

"All this is very well, Eibot," declared Dona
Amparo, emotionally snif&ng her smelling-salts,
" but this does not hinder you from being on fire,
mad, lost, for my daughter."

" You deceive yourself, senora. I assure you
that you "

" Come, confess yourself," she said, putting
one hand on my shoulder, and looking at me
146

The Joy of Captain Ribot

with a smilingly mischievous face: "nobody can
hear."

" Senora, for God's sake! "

" Confess, sinner! Confess yourself! " and she
gave a gentle and affectionate little pull at my
beard.

I was terrified, dreading something decidedly
unpleasant.

" Let us keep the secret between us two. You
are in love with Cristina, as Castell has been for
some time."

" Enough of this! " I said, trying to find a way
to escape.

" He is a much worse rake, and, between the two,
frankly I prefer you."

I was stupefied. What was it that this senora
preferred? Why was she talking to me in this
manner? Where was she going to stop?

" Isn't it true that Cristina is very lovely? " she
went on with the same flippancy. " She is such an
interesting type, of such delicacy! It is not strange
that you should become enamored of her. Of
course, I will not have her talked about."

" Senora! "

"No! I know what you would say! She is the
best of creatures, virtuous, incapable of failing
her husband. Further, Bmilio has no equal, so
much affection, so much loyalty, so splendid! He
adores his wife. I am as proud of him as if he
147

The Joy of Captain Ribot

were my own son. I would not consent, for any-
thing in the world, that he should have the least
trouble."

"He will not have any on my account, make
yourself easy," I ventured to say.

" That is honorable in you, Eibot," she replied,
pressing my hand. " You are very good, enough
better than that rascal of a Castell," she added,
smUing sweetly. " And, truly, you could not do less
than be fond of Emilio. He is so good. I always
find him so affectionate towards me. But who can
blame any poor fellow for falling in love! The
wrong is in murmuring soft nothings in the ear of
Cristina when Emilio is not looking. We will sup-
pose that they are foolish things, that she has eyes
like this and a skin like that. But that is not
right. Emilio is his best friend, and if he sus-
pected, he would be disturbed. You, Eibot, are
much more respectful. You would not let your-
self gaze, except by stealth. But what eyes he
makes at her! Come, now, let us see, sinner, did
you fall in love at Gijon or here? "

" I beg of you, senora — I — I feel so much upset,
I must ask you to allow me to retire."

"How reserved you are, Eibot! Well, this
pleases me. Men of few words are those who best
know how to care. But with me you ought not to
be so timid. I know the affection you have vowed
her. Open your heart to me, so that I can do
148

The Joy of Captain Ribot

everything possible to console it. To whom better
than me can yon unbosom yourself? "

" A thousand thanks, senora. Permit me to go.
At present I feel that I should not be able to say
anything in reason."

"I understand you! I understand you, dear
Eibot!" declared Dona Amparo, pressing one of
my hands with emotion between both her own.
"You are like me, exceedingly sensitive, exceed-
ingly emotional. Don't you want another drop of
ether? Neither you nor I is fit for this world. I
cannot bear to see anyone suffer. Now here you
see me, me who, in spite of my adoration for my
son-in-law, for whom I would willingly give my
life, am dissolved in tears at seeing you suffering on
account of my daughter. I am weeping like mad."

And truly Dona Amparo did not in this moment
malign herself.

"Frankly, Ribot," she went on rackingly, "if
it were possible for Cristina to care for you without
troubling Emilio, I would myself go and intercede
for you."

" Thank you, thank you," I murmured, pressing
her hand before I got mine away.

" Believe me, you are as dear to me as a son, and
I would give something if "

Here her voice strangled in her throat, and I
improved the precious opportunity to stride with
tragic footstep from my scene of trial.
149

The Joy of Captain Ribot

I went out in indescribable confusion. I felt
angry, wrathful at such a woman, who with so
much frivolity and folly lifted the veil of the most
delicate secrets, the deepest intimacies of her fam-
ily life. Between my teeth I called her coarse,
imbecile, a bad mother. My anger carried me so
far as to accuse her of an inclination to trade upon
her child's attractions, of having been born for the
part of a Celestina. Yet little by little I calmed
myself, and with calmness arrived at last at justice.
Dona Amparo was absolutely idiotic, of this there
was no doubt; but she was not a bad woman. Hers
was a heart that spread itself like butter over the
first comer. It was necessary to her to be looked
after and petted like a child or a dog, and like
them she knew no difference between the hands
that bestowed caresses. Eeflecting thus, my spirit
was little by little inspired with less wrathful sen-
timents; but I could not help thinking, all the
same, that if the foregoing conversation should
become known to Cristina, she would fall dead of
shame.

I encountered her in the office with her husband
and Castell. Emilio, who was beginning to or-
ganize and get under way his famous project for
putting canals through the province of Almeria,
was in an excellent humor. I suspected that Cas-
tell had finally facilitated the matter with the
needful. Emilio was babbling away, chaffing his
150

The Joy of Captain Ribot

friend affectionately about his scepticism and theo-
ries, and his apathy towards business. If he had Cas-
tell's means at his disposal, he would undertake to
become the richest man in Spain, at the same time
giving bread away to many families and furthering
the progress of the nation. When I entered, the
torrent of his chaffing was diverted to me, and he
threatened to marry me off within a period of not
more than two months. Then he began talking to
me about his project. As soon as the great family
event we were all hoping for had come off, he
would go to Almeria to hasten the preparation for
the canal. He drew from the desk a lot of port-
folios and showed me the plans, explaining details,
and trying to stir up in me the same enthusiasm
that animated him. I gave him a religious atten-
tion, but only in appearance. I really lost not one
movement of Castell's while I looked over the
papers, for I suspected him. I saw him manage
skilfully to get near Cristina, who with one foot on
the balcony sill was turning over a book. When
he got near her, under pretext of examiniag the
book she held, I observed that he brought his cheek
near hers until it almost touched; and although
his back was towards me and I, of course, could
not see his lips move, I knew that he was whis-
pering something to her. The lady moved her
head abruptly away and tried to withdraw; but —
oh, what a surprise! — Castell detained her, taking
151

The Joy of Captain Ribot

hold of her wrist. At the same time with his other
hand he tried to put a letter between her fingers.
Cristina refused to take it. There was a struggle
in silence. My heart heat in my breast. I was
afraid that Marti would turn his head and see what
was going on. Not for sake of the villain Castell,
it may be readily understood, but to save my
friends from the scandal and from cruel trouble,
I did everything possible to keep him occupied.
Cristina's frightened eyes were several times turned
towards us; then not getting free otherwise, and
fearing that which was surely going to happen, if
this struggle were prolonged a few seconds more,
she decided to take the letter, which she crumpled
and hid in her hand. Then, pale, yet smiling, she
came over to us and busied herself also in looking
over the plans, forcing herself to seem at ease.
But her face did not lose its intense pallor and her
whole body was trembling.

As for Castell, I never saw anybody cooler,
serener, or showing less emotion of any sort. He
remained a little while quiet, his hands in his
pockets, looking out over the balcony into the
street. Then he walked about the room. Now
and then he would give Cristina a quick, scrutiniz-
ing glance. In spite of the profound aversion with
which he inspired me, I could not help admiring
the man's incredible audacity and at the same time
his perfect self-control and unquenchable confi-
152

The Joy of Captain Ribot

dence in himself. I have never known anyone to
whom other created beings represented less.

I did not lose sight of the hand in which Cris-
tina had crumpled the letter. Emilio went on
through the portfolios without ceasing his long
prolix explanations. Then rising from his chair
and taking Castell's arm, he halted him in his
walk.

"Do you — don't you want to go into such a
business?" he said in the chafl&ng tone.

"You know already, Emilio, that I can't serve
you," replied the other, with his placid and patron-
izing smile.

" In work, no — I know that. But as a figure-
head you can do me a great service. As you are
rich and are known as a scientific man (you know
that, although you don't care much about it), it
is necessary that you should take the most im-
portant position, and be president of the council
of administration. No work will be demanded of
you. You shall be given a comfortable arm-chair,
and you can, from time to time, drop o£E to sleep,
scattering benedictions."

Cristina had remained near the table. Stand-
ing up, she, with a lofty expression, cast one full
glance at Castell. Then unfolding that which she
held, she tranquilly tore it up and flung the tiny
bits into the waste-paper basket.

153

CHAPTEE X.

OUE way that afternoon lay towards the cottage
of Tonet, where some refreshment was pre-
pared for us. This Tonet, a regular Moor accord-
ing to his eyes, his complexion, and his teeth, was
a wonder at preparing paellas and playing on the
flute. Whenever it occurred to us to go and visit
him, he received us with the gravity and courtesy
of a feudal senor. Scarcely opening his lips, he
made himself understood to his wife and children
by signs, had chairs brought for us under the arbor,
and soon afterwards he used to serve us figs, dates,
cJiufas, and fresh cinnamon cakes, with which his
pantry was always provided. "When we had let
him know we were coming, as on the present occa-
sion, he offered us ice cream, rich with vanilla and
filberts. He was a meek, sad man, seeming care-
less of all things. He was never joyful, but liked
to see joyousness in others. On Sundays and on
many afternoons when his work was done early, he
would come out and sit down alone in front of the
cottage and play softly for a while on his flute. He
did not do it for his own pleasure; it was a lure,
nothing more. Little by little he drew to his own
154

The Joy of Captain Ribot

cottage the young people from all the cottages
round about, and a dance was improvised. His
eldest son, a boy of fourteen years, played on the
taboret and was almost as grave and silent as he.
Both passed hours, one blowing and the other beat-
ing his instrument, serious, melancholy, with eyes
fixed on space, and heeding neither much nor little
the noisy dance that their music evoked.

Sabas, who was of the party this afternoon,
marched abreast with me as we were making our
way across the fields of high Indian corn, already
bursting into ears. The first subject that he pro-
posed for my consideration, sucking his pipe and
spitting at regular intervals, was of a nature essen-
tially critical. Why did his brother-in-law persist
in keeping up this estate with so little of it under
cultivation, and at so much expense, when by so
little effort it could be made productive? Every
one of the constituent elements of this proposition
was separately examined by a rigidly mathemati-
cal method. To do so he formulated in the first
place certain definitions, clear, distinct, and lumi-
nous. What is an estate for recreation? What is
a productive estate? What is an estate of com-
bined pleasure and utility? After this he laid
down certain axioms as profound as they were in-
disputable. All that is productive ought to pro-
duce. To attain an end one ought to employ
means. Man is not alone in the world, and ought
155

The Joy of Captain Ribot

to consider his family. Vanity should not influ-
ence human actions. One-sided propositions im-
mediately followed with their premises and corol-
laries; then he would go on to the end gently, hut
with invincible logic to prove the proposition on
which hung the following corollary: Emilio is an
active and enterprising man, but at the same time
a careless fellow.

Satisfied, with good reason, by the method and
intuition and the logic wherewith the Supreme
Being had so highly favored him, Sabas continued
sucking and spitting with dizzying rapidity. The
second subject which this lucid soul attacked this
afternoon directly concerned me.

" Come, tell us, Ribot, have you never thought
of getting married? " he asked me after a long
pause, taking out his pipe and fixing a scrutinizing
gaze upon me.

I confess I felt disturbed. I understood that
the depths of my soul were next to be sounded, and
trembled, perceiving that this transcendent critic
was disposed to exercise his scalpel on me.

" Tss! Sailors think little of that. Our life is
incompatible with family pleasures."

" Sailors, when they arrive at a certain com-
fortable condition and have reached an indepen-
dent position like you, have the right to retire
peacefully and enjoy a comfortable life," he
replied with the gravity and firmness which
156

The Joy of Captain Ribot

marked every utterance that came out of his
mouth.

How did he know that I had reached an in-
dependent position? Solely by his marvellous in-
tuition, for I had given nobody an account of the
state of my affairs. I admired such tremendous
penetration from the bottom of my heart, and was
humbly disposed to find out how much more he
knew about me.

Sabas meditated several minutes. And while he
meditated, sucking his pipe, his cheeks sunk in a
supernatural manner. The energy that he ex-
pended upon that tobacco smoke was such that I
was persuaded he must be swallowing it.

At the same time the intensity of his reflections
iniiuenced in like manner the secretion of his
salivary glands.

" Why should you not marry my cousin Isa-
belita? " he said to me suddenly, with that brusque
and peremptory accent which characterizes men
who rule their kind by their power of thought.

Isabelita was walking on with Matilde in front
of us. I grew pale, feariag she might have heard
these serious words, and frightened and confused,
murmured some incoherent words.

"Yes," proceeded the critic, "my cousin is a
very nice girl, very modest, and more, she admires
you extremely."

"Admires me!" I exclaimed, amazed. "And
157

The Joy of Captain Ribot

for what does she admire me?" I asked can-
didly.

Sabas laughed noisily, coughed, and got rid of
his nicotine.

" She will tell you that when you are alone with
her, hand in hand."

" You do not understand me," I returned, net-
tled. "What I wish to say is that I do not see
anything in myself to be admired by anybody.
And as for Isabelita, I have always believed that
she had dedicated all of her admiration to Castell."

" That is nothing special. A man with eight
million pesetas is an admirable being. But the
admiration, in this ease, will not bring any practi-
cal result. All the world knows that Castell keeps
the mother of his children, and no young lady of
good family thinks of him. With you the case is
different; it would be possible for it to be quickly
carried to a satisfactory solution; and my opinion
is that you ought to leave your steamboat and try
at once for this elegant craft. Isabelita is sensible,
modest, well-educated, diligent; she is accustomed
to the strict economy of a house where they turn a
dollar over a hundred times before parting with it;
an only child, and heiress of all her father's money.
And my Uncle Eetamoso owns more than people
imagine. Who ever can tell exactly how much
money a Galician has? Probably while he lives
you would not have a right of five centimes; but
158

The Joy of Captain Ribot

what does that matter to you? In the first years of
marriage you can keep yourself well enough on
your capital, and when necessities grow greater,
and certain additional things become necessary,
you can make a raise on your prospects as his son-
in-law, enough to carry you over until a certain
joyful event "

Other wise reflections poured like busy and
knowing bees from the mouth of that extraordinary
man. In my life seemed gathered together all the
loose ends of existence, all its aims fulfilled, and
the quintessence of human relations extracted.

While my future was thus being discussed, al-
though I found myself embarrassed by the new per-
spective oifered to my view, I had, none the less,
enough largeness of mind to admire the logic of
his discourse, his surprising wealth of figures, rich-
ness of diction, turns of expression, subtle and
logical distinctions, and the perfect links of his
chain of reasoning. The breathing world, I be-
lieve, held no secrets from this man, and the mech-
anism of his reasoning worked vrith the exactness
of a chronometer.

When we reached the cottage and were seated to
partake of the refreshment that had been prepared
for us, Emilio, who was near me, asked me in an
undertone:

" Then it is decided that you are going to leave
us to-morrow? "

159

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" There is no help for it. The boat is due any
moment now."

" What a pity! " he exclaimed in a melancholy
tone; and placing one hand affectionately on my
shoulder he added: " Do you know, you rascal, that
we are getting used to you! "

I was moved by his words, and more yet by the
cloud of sadness that darkened his cheerful, "sympa-
thetic face. I kept silence. He did the same.
Throwing himself back in his chair, he remained
unlike himself, thoughtful and melancholy. At
last he turned to me and said, almost in my
ear:

" If you would take my advice you would give up
your sea-faring life, which, say what you will, is a
little risky, and marry and settle down. Why be
always alone ? Do you never think of old age, and
how sad it would be to pass the last years of your
life in the power of self-seekers, without children
to make bright your home, without a wife who of
herself brings order and comfort?"

"But I am an old fellow already," I answered
smiling, but sad in the depths of my soul, " I am
thirty-six years old."

" That is a good age for a man. And then, by
your looks and strength and suppleness, you are
only a boy. I know," he added, casting a mis-
chievous glance towards the place where Isabelita
was, " a girl of eighteen Aprils who would marry
160

The Joy of Captain Ribot

you in preference to all the young bucks of the
city."

" Bah! this girl would laugh if you should pro-
pose to her a man double her age."

" Don't you believe it! Because you know it
already, I will tell you in confidence that Isabelita
admires you."

" But, man "

" No, no. I know particularly that she admirea
you."

The thing was serious. This unexpected admira-
tion made me anxious and timid. I could not see
my face in a mirror, because there was none there;
but a glance at my shaggy, brown hands and at my
feet, neither small nor especially well-shod, made
me unable to divine the nature or extent of my
charms.

Well, well, the least that a man can do when,
with reason or without, he finds himself admired
by a girl, is to pass her the plate of olives and
ask her if she likes them. This is exactly what I
did a little after I had had it brought to my notice
that I had fascinated Ketamoso's daughter. She
pricked one with her fork, and at once her lovely
face was covered with blushes, as if she had pricked
my heart. I was not sure, but I figured that the
next thing after this was to serve her a bit of
sausage. The same blushes dyed her brow for this
hash as for the olives. The consecutive repetition
161

The Joy of Captain Ribot

of this physiological phenomenon filled my spirit
with alarm. My gallant sentiments grew so ani-
mated that I did not stop offering her entertain-
ment at very short intervals for some time. I
think that if she had taken all I offered her that
afternoon, medicine would have been powerless to
counteract the effects of my attention, and that
angelical being would have spread her wings for
heaven, the victim of an indigestion.

Once started on the downward path of soft
nothings, I did not hesitate to sit dovm beside
her and let her know that she had wonderful eyes,
indescribable; cheeks that were smooth, rose-col-
ored, indescribable; hands little and shapely and
charming and — also indescribable. The knowl-
edge of these facts caused her profound surprise, to
judge by the look of incredulity that appeared
upon her countenance. She told me that truly I
knew very well how to go on, and that only a rascal
of a sailor, accustomed to flatter women all along
the coast, could find such a proceeding possible.
Saying this, she grew redder than a cherry.

The conversation went on for some time in this
sweet and pleasant fashion, as if we were playing
at fencing in a comedy, and whUe it lasted the
blood ebbed and flowed constantly in the face of
Isabelita. I outdid myself, as the critics say of
bad actors in the journals; that is, I was jolly,
smart, full of chaff, and absolutely stupid. Our chat
16S

The Joy of Captain Ribot

attracted the attention of the rest, and I could
see that they looked at us with curiosity and
glanced mischievously at one another.

I don't know now what fatuity made me do it,
but I begged Tonet to play on his flute, and I pro-
posed that, when the company came, we should
dance together. She accepted readily, and laughed
a good deal (was it at me?) when we were thus
matched. I invited Isabelita, that's sure, and I
began jumping about with her like a rattle-pated
student, and I was not long in discovering that in a
little while everybody was watching us attentively.
My agitation was not calmed by this. However, I
went on hopping about at a great rate, while every-
body applauded, crying vivas, and looking at us
with laughing eyes. Only the silent Tonet and his
immobile son fixed theirs upon us as grave and
melancholy as if they wished to remind us of the
nothingness of all things human, and the brevity
of existence.

Cristina, who until then had been quiet, and on
whose brow I could see the lines marked by the
scene of the morning, now began quickly to wake
up a bit. Her face was so lively that everybody ad-
mired it. They had not seen her like that ia years.
Dona Amparo declared that since she was a little
girl, when her playfulness and tricks had caused
her mother more than one start, Cristina had not
frolicked in such fashion. We encouraged her,
163

The Joy of Captain Ribot

applauded her, threw her chufas and almonds until
she began to show a wish to dance also. Emilio
and her mother would not let her, on account of
her condition. But nonsense and witticisms kept
on issuing from her mouth, splitting everybody's
sides with laughter. She had a lively wit, and she
got her words off with a brusque naturalness that
gave them a great effect. Some things that she
said seemed to me a little dashing, but I admired
her so much that I did not mind them. When
anyone talks a great deal of nonsense, it is almost
impossible to keep within strictly prudent limits.

" This is all right," said Sabas in my ear, seat-
ing himself beside me. " Now you have a chance
to strike while the iron is hot. Get in with my
uncle. Talk to him about the subject that will
butter your bread."

I laughed, but took no further notice. I went
on paying court to Isabelita with everybody's good
will. I mistake — Dona Clara looked at us now
and then with eyes whose expression was a trifle
more severe than usual, and she sniffed her Roman
nose when we chanced to take a little luncheon
of chufas. I do not know but I may be wrong, but
two or three times I had a notion that I heard her
murmur the English word, " Shocking! " This
would have been nothing strange, for in difficult
places this illustrious matron preferred the Anglo-
Saxon language to her native idiom. That which
164

The Joy of Captain Ribot

I can fearlessly affinn, and nobody will contradict,
is that I saw her eat more than a kilo of choco-
lates, and that this operation, however vulgar in
itself, did not make her lose one atom of her
majesty.

The hour arrived for us to go back to the house
for our carriages, to return to the city. But at
the moment of starting to walk, Cristina felt very
badly. I saw that she grew pale and put her hand
several times to her head and heart. The sal-
volatUe of Dona Amparo was of no avail; neither
was the orange-flower water nor the Melisa water,
nor other remedies that, like faithful friends, ac-
companied this nervous lady everywhere. Cristina
begged us to leave her alone a moment with Tenet's
wife, who would bring her a cup of tila. A quarter
of an hour later she came out of the cottage, se-
rene, but with reddened eyes. The nervous crisis
had ended in tears.

The sun had already disappeared when we
started on our walk through the fields of Indian
corn and the little fruit orchards. Calming my
dashing gallantry and stifling the gush of vanity
that had burst forth in my spirit at the supposed
admiration of Isabelita, I remained silent and sad.
As I was walking apart in company with her and
Matilde, I did my utmost to hide it; but seeing that
this was impossible, and fearing that they would
notice my mood, I made a feint for the purpose of
165

The Joy of Captain Ribot

falling back to walk alone. I was displeased with
myself. The gallantry of that afternoon seemed
to me a treason to my true sentiment, to the sweet
and delicate love that I guarded like a treasure in
the depth of my heart. I could not but think with
disgust that I had descended to the most trivial
cheapness. I was afraid, with good reason, that
Cristina, whose regard and esteem for me had
seemed increasing, would despise me from that
hour, and this thought hurt me deeply.

Since her iadisposition she had not turned to-
wards me or looked at me, nor spoken a word to
me. Luck made it so that she could not help
speaking. She had forgotten her watch and left
it in the cottage and wished to go back for it.
I quickly anticipated her. When I returned
with it, she waited for me, a little apart from the
others.

" Thank you," she said, with a hard, cold face,
and tried to rejoin the rest.

Whoever has experienced the pangs of love will
believe me when I say that that gloomy counte-
nance gave me inexpressible joy.

" Listen to me a moment, Cristina; I have some-
thing to say." I spoke with a voice not quite
under control.

" You may say it," she replied, looking over my
head at the horizon, and in a glacial tone that, for
a like reason, warmed instead of chilling me.
166

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" I wish to beg advice of you and I scarcely dare.
Did you notice that this afternoon I paid a little
more attention to your Cousin Isabelita, as if I
were courting her? "

" No. I have noticed nothing," she answered,
more sharply still.

" Because this is the truth — and I venture to say
it, it is only because of the great difference in age
between us — I only did it because Isabelita admires
me."

She gazed at me stupefied, as if she suspected
that I had gone mad.

" At least this is what I have been informed in
turn by Sabas and Emilio."

" What idiots! " she exclaimed, her lips smiling,
understanding my meaning. " They are capable
of making sport of everything. Fortunately you
are a man of sense, and take no stock in such non-
sense; and if not, you would stop at my poor
cousin."

"In this case, I have, after all, taken certain
steps towards winning her good will, and before
going farther I wish to obtain your approval."

" My approval! " she exclaimed, agitated, and
with a choking voice. " But what need have you
of my approval? I have no part in the matter.
Beg it of her parents."

"Before begging it of her parents I desire it
from you. I know that you have no direct interest
167

The Joy of Captain Ribot

in the matter, but it has to do with your cousin, of
whom you appear to think a good deal, who has
distinguished me with her esteem, however little
merited. Nobody can give me true counsel in this
case better than you; so I beg it of you, in the name
of our good friendship, as a favor which I shall
appreciate all the days of my life."

She remained silent for some time.

We walked on together through the high-grow-
ing corn which made even dimmer the fading twi-
light.

I watched her out of the corner of my eye, and
it seemed to me that I could detect slight, almost
imperceptible, changes sweep over her face. Soon
her brow contracted and her lips moved several
times before a sound escaped them. At last she
said in a trembling voice:

" It makes me very happy that you have made
your choice at last. Men ought not to live alone,
and especially those who, like you, have an affec-
tionate, indulgent temperament, and know how to
appreciate the delicate heart of a woman. Isabelita
is almost a child; I can tell you little about her
character. You will take it upon yourself to form
her. But I can assure you that she knows how to
fulfil the duties of a housewife. She is industrious,
careful, economical; and under these qualities are
hid others that wUl show themselves. She is very
pretty, too."

168

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" You have forgotten the one which makes her
dearest and most attractive to me."

"What?"

" That of being your cousin."

Her beautiful face darkened; she frovmed and
replied in a sharp tone:

" If you do not care for my cousin for herself,
if you would take her as a toy to distract you from
other illusions, or, which would be worse, to follow
and nourish them in secret, you would commit a
great sin; and I should in such case advise you not
to think of her, but to leave her in peace."

Uttering these words, she hastened on and Joined
the others, leaving me alone.

When we got into the carriages to return to the
city, I was melancholy, too wrapped up in serious
meditations to go on playing the boy with Isabelita.
Under pretext of a headache I found a place alone
at the back, and to support my pretext I did not
go up to Marti's house, but retired to my hotel.

At eight o'clock in the morning I heard the
cheerful voice of Emilio, who came into my quar-
ters like a hurricane, threw open the windows, and
sat down on my bed.

" You can't go to-morrow. Captain! " he cried,
laughing, and pulling my beard to finish waking
me.

" Why? " I asked sleepily.

"Because to-morrow you are going to be god-
169

The Joy of Captain Ribot

father to a little girl more beautiful than the morn-
ing star."

" What! Cristina ? "

"Yes; Cristina was taken ill after you left us.
We thought that it was to be like her afternoon in-
disposition; but she, who ought to know, begged
us to send for the woman she had engaged for the
case. I was afraid she might not succeed, and
sent for the doctor; but Cristina would not consent
that he should come into her room. When the
woman took charge of her, the poor — Oh, what
courage, what suffering. Captain! Not a groan,
not a moan. I walked about dead, torn to pieces,
praying God that she would scream. I don't
understand suffering without a sound. I am ap-
palled by temperaments like Cristina's, that not
one complaint escapes in the worst of pains. At
two o'clock in the morning my brave little woman
came through her trouble, making me father of the
prettiest, healthiest, cleverest little one the sun of
Valencia ever shone on. I'm sure of it, although
I have not yet seen it."

He got up from the bed, took several turns in the
room, came back and sat down, got up again, and
went through a series of evolutions that showed
the delightful agitation of his spirit. I felt
deeply moved too, and congratulated him with
hearty words. When he stopped at last, I asked
him:

170

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" So you do me the honor of being god-
father? "

" It will give me great pleasure if you will ac-
cept. To tell the truth, I thought first of Castell.
You don't mind, do you? Enrique is more than a
friend and brother to me. It would be the natural
thing. But I will tell you privately, Cristina op-
posed it. Eeligious scruples, do you see? En-
rique professes such upsetting ideas and declares
them with such excessive frankness, the ladies
cannot forgive him. It is all because he is not
a practical man. He might hold all the notions
he liked if he would keep them a little more to
himself when he is among women. As for me, I
laugh at his materialistic ideas. Enrique a ma-
terialist, when there is not a more generous man
in the world! Because, in spite of his great talents
■and his wonderful powers of illustration, do you
know, Enrique is a child, a heart of gold! "

As he uttered these words with an accent of con-
viction, he shook his black, curly head in a way
that made me want to laugh and to weep at the
same time.

"And what does Cristina say to the substi-
tute?"

"When I proposed your name, she was de-
lighted."

I was delighted too, hearing this. I dressed
hastily and marched off to make the acquaintance
171

The Joy of Captain Ribot

of the new star. The next day we went to church,
and I performed my duty with emotion, yes, burst-
ing with pride. Later I took the train for Barce-
lona, promising my friends to return soon to visit
them, and to make the visit permanent by settling
my camp in Valencia.

172

CHAPTEE XI.

I THOUGHT this matter over, and my purpose
became fixed during my Toyage. I found
that, although not rich, I had enough to live com-
fortably on; and when I returned to Barcelona I
offered my resignation to the shipping house.

I cannot clearly explain the sentiments whose
tumult at that time filled my soul. Confusion
reigned therein. Intense love for Cristina, the
angelic beauty and innocence of Eetamoso's girl,
the desire for repose and for a comfortable and
tranquil life that all men feel on arriving at a cer-
tain state, and the sharp prickings of conscience
that questioned my right to obtain it under such
conditions, struggled together within me. But
there was one sentiment which, however silenced,
was stronger than the others — the ardent desire to
be near Cristina, to live in her intimate circle, and
never to lose sight of her charming face. I held
no thoughts against the peace of her heart or the
honor of her husband, but only to be happy enjoy-
ing her presence all of my life.

In this mind, neither saint-like nor criminal,
I took the train for Valencia two months after I
173

The Joy of Captain Ribot

had left it. In a train that passed mine in a sta-
tion on the way, I caught a glimpse, through a
window, of the silhouette of Sabas, and near it the
red head of a woman who was not Matilde.

" Sabas, Sabas! " I called.

When he saw me, he saluted me affectionately
with his hand. The lady who was beside him also
smiled cordially; I did not see why, for I did not
know her. I remained puzzled. I was doubtful
if I had not been mistaken. Was it really Ma-
tilde? I was not long in finding out.

I reached Valencia before dark. After leaving
my things at the inn, I hired a conveyance to take
me out to Cabanal, where I knew that Marti was
now installed. I was anxious to consult with him
about my plans. As I drew near the country house
I felt my heart beating violently. This roused
anew my sentiment of honor. " Are we like this? "
I said to myself scornfully. " While thinking of
binding yourself by a sacred fetter, of offering
yourself to an innocent young girl, you cannot con-
trol your impulses! You are going to press the
hand of a friend, to make him your confidant,
your kinsman, while still your spirit is not cleansed
of traitorous thoughts! "

The family was assembled in the dining-room.

I observed at once a certain sadness and unusual

gravity on their faces. They all wore long faces,

filled with a consternation that alarmed me exces-

174

The Joy of Captain Ribot

sively. Marti embraced me, however, with his ac-
customed cordiality, showing sincere delight at my
arrival. I gave my hand to the others and, coming
to Matilde, I said to her, without stopping to think:

" So you are a widow? I saw your husband in
a station. We had no chance to speak, but we
greeted each other."

I had not finished uttering these words before I
was stupefied by her beginning to weep bitterly.
She pressed my hand convulsively and, between
the sobs that rent her breast, said:

" Thanks, Eibot! Many thanks! My husband
was running away with the young lady."

" I saw a red-headed lady beside him, but I did
not think — " I stammered, abashed.

"Yes, yes, the young lady," she sobbed.

"Forgive me, but what has been said can't be
unsaid; but, yes, she seemed young to me."

" She would like to seem young! She is more
than thirty years old! " she cried angrily; " more
painted and bedizzened than a doll in a bazaar.
You should see her mornings on her balcony! "

Marti came to my aid, saying in low tones:

" She was the young lady in the company acting
at the theatre."

"Ah!"

Everybody kept still and looked at the floor as
one does when paying a visit of condolence. Noth-
ing could be heard in the room but the increasingly
175

The Joy of Captain Ribot

poignant sobs of the outraged wife. The situation
was trying, agonizing in the highest degree. For-
tunately Dona Amparo had the happy inspiration
to faint away, and this accident introduced an ele-
ment of variety into the scene which we immedi-
ately improved. We ran to her aid. We opened
flasks with shining stoppers. The dining-room
was iilled with the penetrating fragrances of the
apothecary's shop. Tears, embraces, sighs, kisses.
At last her equilibrium was restored, and she came
to herself.

I thought I would lose my head in the odor of
ether; but before this could happen Marti drew me
from the room, and carried me off to his office.

"Did you ever see such a wretched affair?" he
cried, shaking his head in immense annoyance.

"But what is it all?"

" Nothing; the other night he won three or four
thousand pesetas at play, and he has gone gayly off
to spend them with an actress."

" What madness! But he will come back! "

" I believe you; he'll come back when he has
run through with every dollar, as he did the other
time."

"The other time?"

" Yes; three or four years ago he eloped with a
circus-rider. But then he carried off more money
than this time."

I had no wish to seek for more details, for I saw
176

The Joy of Captain Ribot

that Marti was going to break down. There is
nothing sadder than the sadness of a happy man.
To distract him, I turned the conversation, and
talked of myself and the projects I had under way.
His face changed at once, and a cheerful smile
played about his mouth.

" Bravo, Captain! At last you are going to be
our own," he cried, hugging me until he choked
me.

We talked the matter over carefully. At last
we decided that, considering my age and character,
I must not conduct myself like a youth, but with
all due formality. After gaining the consent of
Isabelita, which Marti seemed to think already
assured, I must, before entering upon our relations,
visit her people and talk seriously with them.
This plan captured his imagination and he drove
along assuredly. He cheered me, embraced me
several times, calling me cousin, and promising
me to help me all that he could, and promised, too,
that Cristina would do the same.

We returned to the dining-room. Our cheerful
countenances were in great contrast to the solemn
and dejected ones there. Dona Amparo's eyes still
showed the water-marks of their recent flood. Ma-
tilde — there is no saying how she was. Isabelita,
who was staying with her cousins, received me with
the same blushes, but without any great signs of
rejoicing, which I attributed to the trouble her
13 177

The Joy of Captain Ribot

family was in. Castell was, as always, cold and
disdainful. Cristina — I cannot express how I
found Cristina. Her eyes had a strange sadness,
which impressed me painfully. I at once im-
agiued that she found herself bowed beneath the
burden of some great wrong, and that this could be
nothing else but the infamous gallantry of Castell.
Perhaps he had narrowed the circle. Perhaps —
oh, what a thought!

All at once I saw her eyes brighten with delight
at the entrance of the nurse with my god-daughter
in her arms. She was a beautiful rosebud, fresh,
sweet, delicate, and probably, as that is the rule,
dowered with marvellous intelligence. Marti
would have testified to that with his blood.

To carry conviction to our minds, he found no
more adequate means than to enter upon a series
of mimic representations, certain of which had a
surprising success. First he intoned a hymn of
the Church with the voice of a precentor. The
little girl at once began to put up her lips and
burst out crying. Then he sang some sequidillas,
and the youngster at once cheered up and began
to bounce, trying to get down on the floor, doubt-
less to run away on all fours. He barked, he
mewed, he crowed like a cock, and we understood
at once that the little one had no lack of zoological
notions, but had an idea of the classifications intro-
duced in the animal kingdom.
178

The Joy of Captain Ribot

Marti demonstrated the thesis in a way which
left no room for douht, and proud of the impres-
sion on the assemblage that his notable experi-
ments succeeded in making, he considered it proper
next to take the child from her nurse's arms and
toss her up and down in his own like a bottle of
ink. Maybe he imagined that by this method
of concentration he would invigorate still more her
psychic faculties. But he did not go on with this
long enough to make her black. The little creat-
ure, not familiarized with his novel method, ob-
jected to it with loud screams and all the indigna-
tion of her soul. Cristina took her, did all that
she could to hush her, and gave her agaia to the
nurse, who was the one who really brought calm
into her outraged heart.

Before we went in to supper, they obliged me
to dismiss my cab. Castell would take me back in
his own. I tried to get out of this, because the
company of this gentleman grew constantly more
distasteful to me; but it was not possible. Emilio,
with his characteristic impetuosity and slight
knowledge of men, gave the order to the coachman
to depart.

They placed me beside Isabelita. Everybody
would say that that was perfectly natural, and that
I ought to have been whispering to her all the
evening. Of this I have nothing to say. Per-
chance, if they had been asked if I should touch
179

The Joy of Captain Ribot

her foot gently with my own and fondle her hand
underneath the table, some of them would have
held a contrary opinion and would have discussed
it more or less at length. But I, deciding that the
majority would finally decide in favor of it, did not
hesitate in anticipating the decisions of such a
tribunal.

At twenty minutes after ten I settled down in a
corner of the dining-room where Eetamoso's girl
was, and where I could chat freely with her. I
told her first that she was the only woman in the
world who could make me happy; second, that by
my frank and sympathetic character, and by my
honorable intentions — and because of the voice I
said it in — I deserved what would make me happy.
In accordance with these things I was resolved
that on the following day I would give an account
of this matter to Senor and Senora Ketamoso. It
was then twenty-five minutes after ten.

Our deliberations continued a little longer. Cas-
tell was accustomed to depart at eleven, and he
asked me politely if I wished to do the same. I
agreed, as was proper, since the family would wish
to retire, and we betook ourselves to the city. Dur-
ing the ride I had occasion to think once more
that it was an error of nature that I had hair on
my face, and that instead of a hat I should have
covered my childish thoughts with a thick hood.
That gentleman, penetrating into the secret labor-
180

The Joy of Captain Ribot

atory of life, arranged the facts of being in his
mind, taking pains to pit his ideas against my in-
experienced reasonings; sometimes yawning, again
smilingly pardoning my puerilities. Take it all
together, he handled me so well that, in conse-
quence, I could feel a real hood on my head. But
that which stirred me up most was his gracious
manner of considering me a man; and the recog-
nition of this attitude towards me irritated me
more than ever, and I swore between my teeth that
I would never ride again in his cab, but would,
instead, go on my own feet.

Next day, solemnly attired in a coat which had
made the voyage to America eleven times and to
Hamburg thirty-seven, I presented myself at the
Eetamoso house. It was situated on the Plaza del
Mercado, not far from the Lorija, and was more
substantial than beautiful, of modem construction,
only one floor above the business rooms, with a
plain front destitute of ornamental carvings, with
three large doors and three little stone balconies.
But it was much more spacious than its exterior
promised. Its warerooms, occupying the corner
part, were large and high as the salons of a palace.
Great piles of codfish, barrels of flour and of alco-
hol, cases of sugar and cocoa filled it, forming
narrow and intricate passages. Through these I
went, half-suffocated by the distasteful odors of
these products of overseas, and preceded by a clerk
181

The Joy of Captain Ribot

with a pen behind his ear, until I reached the back
of the room, where there were three glass doors,
giving upon a patio. N"ear one of these was a
low railing of pine, painted green; in the middle,
a single table and a big desk; and behind the table
and the desk, a little man with an embroidered
velvet skull-cap. It was himself, Senor Eetamoso.

" Senor de Eibot! What good fortune is this? "
he exclaimed, rising to come out of the enclosure,
making numberless bows, and lifting his hand as
many times more to his skull-cap. " To what do
we owe the honor? "

"I wish to speak a few words to you," I answered,
casting a significant glance at the clerk, who, un-
derstanding, disappeared in the zigzag passages.

The face of Senor Eetamoso underwent an enor-
mous change. The delight that had overspread it
was swiftly succeeded by a deep sadness. It was
as if a cloud had intercepted in an unexpected
fashion the rays of life and warmth, withering and
drying up that which a moment before had been
joyous welcome.

" Very well. I will be with you in a moment,"
he murmured, re-entering the enclosure, carefully
locking the safe and putting the key in his
trousers pocket.

This done, he came out and, facing me, said in a
glacial way:

" I am at your service."
182

The Joy of Captain Ribot

"This good man thinks I have come to beg
money," I said to myself, surprised at this change.

" The occasion of this visit," I said with hesita-
tion, " is a little delicate. It is possible that you
know."

" I know nothing," he declared, resolutely cut-
ting me short.

"I meant to say it is possible that you have
suspected "

"I have suspected nothing," he said in turn,
more dryly still.

A little irritated by these interruptions, I said
vdth spirit:

"It is all the same. You are going to know
now. It has to do with a certain sympathetic un-
derstanding established between your daughter
Isabelita and me. As this sympathy might ia
time be transformed into affection, and be carried
to the point of loving relations, I thought that I
ought to consult the will of her parents. My age
forbids flirtations or a clandestine courtship. Fur-
ther, the friendship that binds me to Marti, in
whose house I had the honor of meeting your
daughter, and the kindness, however unmerited,
with which your wife and you have honored me,
oblige me to conduct myself frankly and loyally."

The round face of Uncle Diego resumed its
first expression. The cloud that intercepted the
rays of delight had been chased away.
183

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" Oh, Senor de Eibot! What do I hear? I knew
nothing. I had heard nothing. I am a poor man.
Why not go to my wife, who understands it much
better, and will know what I ought to answer?"
he exclaimed smiling, all honey, lifting his hand to
his embroidered skull-cap, and throwing back his
leg so as to make a deeper bow.

" I thought of seeing both of you."

" Oh, Senor de Eibot! But why? Come, come
with me. I will take you to the place where you
can adjust this account. I know nothing about
these experiences, but there is one in the house who
knows more than Merlin. Take care, Senor de
Eibot, take good care. Keep your stirrups. Who-
ever has to come to an understanding with my
lady needs the use of his head."

Going on like this, he conducted me to a stair-
case, and by it we ascended to the principal story.
Once arrived, he squeezed my hand hard between
his own, and, in a falsetto voice, recommended me
to look out for myself when talking before his wife,
and not be disconcerted in her presence. He
promised that he would help me all that he was
able, but that I must not expect much, as he also
felt constraint before Dona Clara.

" She is a deep woman, Senor de Eibot. When
I say this, I say all."

Without freeing me, he led me to the door of a
parlor, and gave two knocks upon it with his
184

The Joy of Captain Ribot

knuckles; the voice of Dona Clara was heard, say-
ing:

" Enter."

Eetamoso again squeezed my hand to encourage
me, and we entered the apartment.

Dona Clara was discovered dressed in black, as
correct and elegant as ever, seated in a leather
chair, with a book in her hands. She took from
her aquiline nose her gold-bowed glasses and let
them hang suspended over her breast by their
golden chain. She gave me her hand, at the same
time casting upon me a look so imposing that, in
spite of the valor wherewith her spouse had inspired
me, I could do no less than tremble. Then she
took her tragic figure up out of her chair and went
and sat down in the middle of a sofa of green
velvet, inviting us by a gesture to place ourselves
in the arm-chairs that were on either side. We
obeyed orders, and Eetamoso, finding no more
excellent resource as a preparation for the session
than to rub his knees with the palms of his hands,
looked at me meanwhile sadly and anxiously.

" Senor de Eibot," he said at last, " I beg you to
tell my wife what you have just had the kindness
to tell me."

"It has to do, senora," I said in a trembling

voice, "with a delicate matter that I desire to

submit to the approval of you both. So if I take

the liberty of speaking of it to you, it is solely

185

The Joy of Captain Ribot

that, no matter what, it cannot be said that I lacked
in showing the respect and esteem with which you
inspire me. Between Isabelita and me an especial
friendship is beginning to take shape "

" I know it," interrupted Dona Clara solemnly.

There followed a moment of suspense, then I
went on:

" Isabelita, because of the gifts of character, in-
nocence, and modesty which adorn her, deserves
not only affection, but hearty admiration. I can-
not, naturally, explain all the charm that she has
for me since I have felt myself attracted towards
her. I found courage to give her to understand
this, and I flatter myself to think that she did not
take it HI. Until now no bond has existed between
us, except a sensitive attraction "

" I know it," said Dona Clara once more, with
the same solemnity.

I felt even more constrained. Eetamoso gave
me several encouraging grins, and taking breath,
I was able to go on:

"Prom then until now I can afiirm that there
has been nothing serious between us. I could not
do otherwise, as I would never think of aspiring
without the permission of her parents. But how-
ever this inclination may seem unexpected, when
I embarked for Hamburg two months ago, I car-
ried the thought with me, and the resolution to

strengthen this dawning friendship "

186

The Joy of Captain Ribot

"I know it," once more said Dona Clara with,
even more solemnity, if that were possible.

I remained mute and confused, giving up my
disclosures, which the supernatural penetration of
this lady left useless. But I could not help ad-
miring the singular contrast between these con-
sorts — he knew nothing, she knew everything.

Eetamoso gave me several mischievous winks,
making me understand that this was to be expected
and had nothing surprising in it. Dona Clara, at
the end of a short silence, held herself up still more
erect, and blowing her nose in a manner to inspire
a monkey with awe, said:

" Before going farther, I beg you to let us con-
tinue the conversation in English. The subject
is so serious and delicate that it demands it."

I profess and have always professed a great ad-
miration for the language and literature of Great
Britain. On the little book-shelf of my cabin
voyaged always the " Tom Jones " of Fielding, the
"Don Juan" of Byron, and certain books of
Shakespeare. But, in spite of this admiration, I
had never supposed that it was the only idiom in
which grave and delicate subjects could be treated.
I did not seek, however, to oppose this fine philo-
logical stroke, nor to discuss the preference that
the stern mamma of Isabelita showed for one
branch of the Indo-European languages over its
sister tongues, and hastened to yield to her request,
187

The Joy of Captain Ribot

With this the surprise, delight, and grins of Eeta-
moso reached a climax. He put his finger to his
forehead, arched his eyebrows, opened his eyes
absurdly, and several times when Dona Clara could
not see, being turned towards me, he lifted his
hands to heaven, murmuring unheard:
" What a woman! What a woman! "
Dona Clara, without being at all set up by this
idolatrous worship, let me know in guttural and
emphatic English that nothing of all I had said,
done, or thought had been hid from her, and that
she knew also all that had been said, done, or
thought by her daughter Isabelita. This declara-
tion filled my mind with a feeling of littleness and
limitation that ended by humbling me. In the
impossibility, then, of supplying any facts she did
not know, or of uttering one thought worthy of the
intellectual height of this lady, I took upon myself
the role of calming down, submitting my feeble
reasons beforehand to her own.

After sniffing several times like a ship display-
ing its banner on weighing anchor in a port, and
after fixing upon her nose her gold-bowed glasses to
contemplate me for a while in silence. Dona Clara
found it well to give me some account of her in-
tentions. Isabelita was a child, I was a man. Lay-
ing down these two propositions, at first sight un-
deniable, Dona Clara logically deduced from them
that it was necessary to be careful. A child does
188

The Joy of Captain Ribot

not generally know what she wants; a man is in
duty bound to know. Further, it was impossible
to put aside what I wished for.

" Senor de Eibot," Eetamoso at this point inter-
rupted, "will you be so kind as to put what my
wife says to you into Castilian for me? "

This was done, and when he found out what was
meant, he expressed noisy enthusiasm, exclaiming
energetically:

"Just so! That's it! Exactly! That's it, that's
it! Just so! That's it! "

Dona Clara did not pay the slightest attention
to these words, and keeping her nose pointed the
same way, submitted me to a long and careful ex-
amination. Although I was sufficiently upset, I
answered her questions clearly, and had the satis-
faction of noting certain slight signs of acquies-
cence that touched my pride. She examined my
pretensions, and (as a result of the conscientious
investigation concerning my conduct, which was
carried to the extreme) Dona Clara declared at
last, turning her head slowly towards her husband
like a globe revolving on its axis, that I was "a
decent person," a thing that I had never doubted
in my most extravagant moments.

Every phase of the investigation was successively
and faithfully interpreted by me into Castilian, so
that Senor Eetamoso could understand. Every-
thing won from him the same warm approval, and
189

The Joy of Captain Ribot

was greeted with a salvo of "That's it's!" and
"Justso's!"

Dona Clara terminated the interview by risiag
from the sofa, and with the same firmness, the same
impassive calm and sang-froid, let me know that
here would be my home, and that she would have
much pleasure in receiving me whenever I wished
to come. Saying this, she let her glasses drop by
means of a clever and surprising jerk of her nose,
and presented me her hand. I took it with the
greatest veneration.

"Permit me, Senor de Eibot! One moment,
one moment, no more! " exclaimed Eetamoso, who,
following our example, had also risen. " I have
not the knowledge that my wife has, nor do I
understand foreign tongues. So I am not sure
that I understand all that you desire. It seemed
to me that I understood that there is something
between you and Isabelita."

" Are we still there? " I said between my teeth,
looking at him with surprise and anxiety. As for
Dona Clara, she cast a look upon him that might
have ground him to powder.

" Yes, senor," I replied shortly at last.

" Bear with me, Senor de Eibot. I am a little
slow of understanding, and especially in matters
so fine as these. Yet I believe I understood
(pardon me if I mistake) that you desire our
permission to pay court to her. Pardon me, for
190

The Joy of Captain Ribot

heaven's sake, if I do not express myself like you
two."

" Yes, senor, I desire your authorization to con-
firm my relations with Isabelita."

"Precisely! That's it! I see that I am not
mistaken. Well, then, sir, I am agreeable to all
that Dona Clara has said, and if she had said more,
I should be still more agreeable. You already
know my opinion of you, Senor de Eibot. When
there is a head in the house capable of giving use-
ful advice in all affairs, why bother one's head dis-
cussing them? Only I desire that in this nothing
is promised on our side. For the present, nothing
is settled. If later, Senor de Eibot, we are of the
same opinion, and all come to an understanding,
we shall be able to talk in another fashion. My
wife has already talked in another fashion, and I
have not cut her short; but you understand me,
senor?"

I understood perfectly that this crafty Galician,
before giving his word, wished to find out exactly
how much I was worth. I let myself be imposed
upon by the ruse. I accepted what he proposed,
saying that my visit was not an ofi&cial one, but
merely a simple call of courtesy and respect, and
that I desired that they should retain their liberty,
as I retained my own.

" That's it! Just so! Nothing is settled."

Dona Clara had maintained her rigid and im-
191

The Joy of Captain Ribot

movable position while we were talking, gazing
into space over our heads in an attitude solemn and
disdainful; nothing would give an idea how gran-
diose it was, except the Minerva of Phidias on top
of the Acropolis, if by chance this work of the an-
tique pagan master had been preserved intact until
our time. She remained thus until I, taking my-
self to the stairway, disappeared from her horizon.
Eetamoso went down stairs with me, took me as far
as the door, pulled off his skull-cap, and uttering
a thousand oh's and ah's, pressed both my hands
with inexplicable tenderness, and said in my ear,
as he dismissed me, "It is understood, Senor de
Eibot, that nothing is settled, isn't it? My opinion
is that nothing should be settled."

My good Marti laughed not a little when I re-
lated to him the details of this interview. He con-
gratulated me warmly, and, carried away by his
fanciful optimism, he sketched out twenty plans,
each more agreeable than the last, for my future.
I was to become very rich, and be associated with
him and Castell in a steamboat line whose direction
should be my charge. I should also have a part in
the business of the artesian wells when they began
to strike water. In regard to the canals from the
river, he expressed sincere regret that it was im-
possible at present to give me anything to do. I
replied that that did not weigh on me; I would try
to live without it. My resignation moved him so
193

The Joy of Captain Ribot

much that he finished by saying, running both
hands through his tresses:

" I shall be very much annoyed if, after all, we
don't find a way for you to get a show in this busi-
ness, for it is going to be the best thing ever done
in Spain before to-day."

When what had taken place was made known
to Cristina, she showed herself more affectionate
and kind to me than usual. I observed, none the
less, on her face a melancholy expression that she
tried in vain to conceal. She made a visible effort
to appear gay, but at the best she seemed a bit
absent, and her great black eyes were often fixed
upon space, revealing deep absorption.

I stayed to supper with them. "We were at table,
besides the married couple and their mamma, Isa-
belita, Castell, and Matilde, with all her children,
who entertained us very much. The deserted wife,
whose eyes were now always red, smiled sadly, see-
ing the tenderness and enthusiasm with which
these little creatures inspired me. There was not
lacking someone — I think it was Dona Amparo —
to hint that I was going to be a most affectionate
father, which caused Isabelita a veritable suffoca-
tion of blushes. This color came back several
times during supper, because Marti thought well to
season it with more or less transparent allusions to
our future kinship. Above all, when he opened a
bottle of champagne, and, lifting the goblet, drank
13 193

The Joy of Captain Ribot

to the wish " that Captain Eibot would cast anchor
in Valencia for life/' the cheeks of his cousin did
not set fire to the house, because, fortunately, there
was no combustible material stowed near them.

When we rose from table to take a turn in the
garden, I offered my arm to Cristina. I had a lively
desire to talk with her, to sound her soul, which
seemed to me to be disturbed. Before seeking
refuge in another port, where the fate that was
controlling me was drawing me, I ought to know
that it was the will of God; but never, never could
I forget that dream of love. This was the truth.
Although I had made heroic efforts to drive it
away, thinking of other scenes, other joys, other
duties, it returned persistently to charm my nights
and to disturb my conscience.

I had already taken her hand upon my arm when
Castell, coming up to us and making a little bow,
said:

" Have we not arranged that this evening I was
to be your escort?" At the same time he cast
upon her a particular look; it was threatening, and
did not soften the cold smile that played about his
lips.

Cristina responded with a timid glance and
hastened to release my arm from her own, saying
in an altered voice:

" Thank you. Captain Eibot. Enrique had in-
vited me before "

194

The Joy of Captain Ribot

And they departed down the stairway. From
above, when the light of the vestibule fell upon
their faces, I could see that Castell was talking to
her with an angry gesture, as if he were making
recriminations, and that she was excusing herself
with the greatest humility.

Oh, God! the veil that had hid the truth from
me was swiftly torn away. That man must even
now be her lover. All the blood in my veins rushed
to my heart. I felt giddy and was obliged to grasp
the railing so as not to fall.

195

CHAPTBE XII.

I CAN swear that no anger entered into the agi-
tation that I experienced. My pride did not
resent her preference. I only felt a mortal sadness
as if the last illusion left to me in life had flown
away and escaped. And more, the deep love where-
with she inspired me was not quenched or les-
sened. The respect and idolatry of my sentiment
were weakened, it is true, but its tenderness was at
the same time increased. The goddess had fallen
from her pedestal and was transformed into a
woman. Losing in majesty, she had gained in
charm.

During the days following, I observed that the
humble expression of her face that had so much
surprised me grew more marked. From this I
Judged that she acknowledged her fault and
begged my pardon. Instead of showing myself
troubled, I did everything possible to appear more
respectful and cordial than before. She recog-
nized this, and constantly gave me proofs of her
affectionate friendship. Her heart was noble; if
she had fallen in her own sight, it was owing to
196

The Joy of Captain Ribot

fatal circumstance, and not to her vicious inclina-
tion. Such were then my sentiments.

And Marti? Poor Emilio! Every time that I
savir him I felt more and more attracted by his
generosity and innocence. I thought that he was
a little thinner, but always cheerful and always
confiding. "We spent one afternoon alone at the
seaside. As neither he nor I was out of humor
our conversation ran playfully from one subject to
another, and we laughed at the anecdotes we hap-
pened to remember. One of those that I told had
better fortune than it deserved. He laughed so
much that at the end he grew pale, put his hand to
his chest, and, to the great terror of us both, threw
up blood. I helped him as well as I could, carried
him to a fountain near by, where he drank water
and washed himself. I was much startled by this.
I could scarcely speak. I encouraged him, how-
ever, telling him that this was not important, and
citiug numerous cases of friends who had had this
sort of thing without any serious consequences.
When he had composed himself, he smiled.

"You are right. It is nothing. I am sure
that my lungs are perfectly sound, because until
now I have never even coughed. I will take a
little better care of myself, and when summer
comes, I will go as a precautionary measure to Pan-
ticosa. But it is necessary to keep all this from
Cristina. You know how women are. Don't say
197

The Joy of Captain Ribot

anything to Castell either. He is very pessimistic,
and his affection for me would make him alarmed.
He woidd be capable, in his anxiety, of revealing it
to Cristina."

My eyes, in spite of myself, filled with tears.
Seeing this, he appeared surprised; there was a
moment of suspense; then, laughing aloud, he em-
braced me, exclaiming:

" You are very original. Captain! There is some
strength to be desired here too! But I confess that
if I had not such a practical temperament, and
were not accustomed to examine every subject
coolly, this would make me apprehensive. Fortu-
nately, I know what to count on in the strength
of my constitution."

"My emotion was caused by surprise," I has-
tened to say, to mend matters. " And then I am
not very well these days; my nerves are upset. But,
as I have said, this means nothing, especially for
you, who seem to be such a robust man."

" The most robust of men! I have nothing
more than a rather weak stomach, and some-
times a little kidney trouble. Except for this, I
am an oak. If this were not so, how could I
endure all the work loaded on my shoulders,
the frequent journeys, and all that I have to
carry? "

" Exactly. I have no doubt of it. And you
have never before felt any pain in your lungs? "
198

The Joy of Captain Ribot

Marti took a few steps, looked at me closely, and
in a voice made to seem strong by a special effort,
answered:

" My lungs are those of an athlete! "

"Indeed?"

" Those of a gladiator," he insisted, shaking his
head with an air of unquenchable conviction.

Upon this he launched into a panegyric of his
respiratory apparatus with much enthusiasm and
warmth. He could not have been more eloquent
if he had been a commercial traveller and was
offering it as a sample to a great commercial house.
I congratulated him with equal enthusiasm on the
possession of such a perfect example. Inspired
by his own eulogies, he struck his chest, taking
deep breaths, then sang the last aria of " Lucia."
After that, who could have any doubts of his
organs?

We returned to the house, he in an excellent
humor, but not I; for in spite of his weight of tes-
timony, I was not able to dismiss certain appre-
hensions. Indeed, as our pathway narrowed, and
he walked ahead of me, his narrow shoulders, his
long neck and drooping ears, did not remind me
of the figure of Milon of Crotona nor any other
winner in the Olympian games. It seemed to me
that such magnificent lungs as he said he had
would not have chosen such a poor lodging.

It was the hour of twilight. The park began to
199

The Joy of Captain Ribot

be filled with darkness and mystery. Although we
were in the last days of September, the fresh blos-
soming flowers of that fortunate region filled the
air with fragrance. The trees were as green and
leafy as in early spring; the turf shone in eternal
freshness. But mingled with the luxurious, roman-
tic scent of heliotrope, roses, and violets came from
surroimding orchards other heavier breaths of ripe
fruits. The frmtful earth filled the air of heaven
with the perfume of grapes and melons, pears and
apples, drying hay and Indian corn.

In front of the house, seated in rocking-chairs,
we found Cristina and her mother, Isabelita, Cas-
tell, and MatUde. Her children were running
about the garden, cackling and gabbling like par-
rots, while their unhappy mother watched them
with a melancholy smile. "When we appeared in
front of a close thicket of Indian cannas, Castell
was seated beside Cristina, talking to her in low
tones. She east one glance at her husband, then
at me, and at once lowered her eyes with a serious,
pondering expression on her face; but raising
them again, she scrutinized Emilio carefully, while
he sat down, chatting and laughing with exagger-
ated volubility. Cristina got up, went over to him,
and said:

"Emilio, you are pale. Do you feel ill?"
"I? What an idea! I never felt better. It is
because I have been laughing all the afternoon.
300

The Joy of Captain Ribot

The captain has a stock of delicious anecdotes. At
supper we must tell some of them; not all, though,
for they are all colors."

She was not satisfied; but although she went and
sat down, her eyes never quitted him. Castell
made efforts to attract her attention, talking into
her ear. The conduct of that man seemed to me
the height of cynicism.

Soon it was quite dark, and we went into the
dining-room, where it was light and the table
ready. Just as we were going to sit down at it,
a servant entered, and calling Marti apart, gave
him a letter, with an air of mystery. He opened
it at once and was not able to repress a movement
of annoyance. Pocketing it and excusing himself
for a few moments, he took his hat and went out.
Our curiosity was excited, but nobody said any-
thing. At last Cristina, whose anxiety was evi-
dent, asked the man:

" Who gave you the letter? "

" A gentleman."

" Did he wait for an answer? "

"ISTo, senora. He wanted to speak with the
senor, and he went across by the main door to wait
for him."

The unusualness of the incident, and the mys-
terious manner of the servant, increased our curi-
osity extraordinarily. We had not long to wait for
its satisfaction. Marti presented himself in a few
201

The Joy of Captain Ribot

moments, and, putting his hat down on a chair,
asked joeularly:

" Don't you all know whom I shall have the
honor to present to you? "

We all looked eagerly at him.

" A gentleman whose name begins with an S."

" Sabas! " exclaimed Ma tilde.

Her next act was, with quivering face and violent
gestures, to hurry her children out of their chairs,
and, pushing them wildly before her, get them out
of the room, herself following after.

We all stood up in our agitation. The nose of
the deserting husband was promptly stuck in at the
garden door, and behind it entered its interesting
proprietor. A groan from Dona Amparo. A con-
vulsive embrace next, tears in abundance.

Sabas, although in the arms of his mother, east
a wandering and afSicted glance about the dining-
room.

" Matilde! My children! " he cried in a dramatic
manner.

"All have abandoned thee except thy mother! "
responded Dona Amparo in most pathetic accents.

Sabas leaned his head, a resigned victim, against
the maternal bosom. At this Dona Amparo
hugged him yet more fervently, ready to give her
life-blood for her abandoned son. He freed him-
self at last, arranged his cravat, and held out his
hand to us solemnly, in the dignified attitude of a
202

The Joy of Captain Ribot

general who concludes a capitulation after a heroic
resistance.

He went up to greet Cristina, but she turned her
hack upon him, and went out of the room. He
shook his head in a sentimental manner, and gave
us a sweet, expressive glance. Then he raised his
eyes to heaven, as if petitioning for the justice that
earth denied him.

I was truly alarmed to see that his face was
black and the skin peeled ofE in some places, espe-
cially the nose.

He looked as if he had returned from a scientific
and civilizing expedition into Central Africa,
rather than from a romantic expedition with a
young lady to the capital of Catalonia.

Dona Amparo made him drink a glass of orange-
flower water to calm him. There was no need of
it. His attitude on that critical occasion, at once
tranquil and resigned, impressed us profoundly.
However, when he had drunk the orange-flower
water, he said with astonishing firmness:

" I must see Matilde."

And, joining the action to the word, he pro-
ceeded, full of majesty, towards the door. He
went on into the inner rooms. And we all fol-
lowed him, we were so fascinated by his noble and
severe manner.

We were filled with anxiety concerning the dra-
matic scene that was going to take place. Sabas
303

The Joy of Captain Ribot

opened two or three doors consecutively, without
being able to find his wife. But his intrepid heart
was not cast down. "Without uttering a word he
mounted to the upper story. We followed him
anxiously.

Matilde was in her room, and Cristina was with
her. At sight of her husband she groaned wrath-
fully, and started towards another door to try to
get away again. Cristina tried to detain her.

"Let me go!" she cried madly; "I don't wish
to see him."

" Matilde, for heaven's sake! " cried Cristiaa,
embracing her.

"Let me go, let me go! Everything is over
between us two! "

Then the fugitive, standing in the middle of the
room, showed that his strength was leaving him.
He put his hand feebly to his forehead, his legs
doubled under him, and, taking just enough steps
towards a sofa to reach it, he fell across it in a
swoon.

We all ran to his aid, and his offended wife was
not the last one. On the contrary, it was she who,
grieving and trembling, bathed his temples with
water, and unfastened his waistcoat and shirt to
help him breathe, exclaiming wildly:

" Sabas, my Sabas! Forgive me! "

Meanwhile, Dona Amparo applied to his nostrils
various chemical products of a stimulating nature.
304

The Joy of Captain Ribot

The rest of us helped on the restorative work more
or less modestly, bringing a carafe of water, uncork-
ing bottles, or giving air to the fainting man by
means of a fan.

The only one who remained inactive, seeming
indisposed to offer any hygienic aid to her brother,
was Cristina. Standing erect near us, she looked
strangely severe. Doubtless her behavior might
seem to some persons cruel and unnatural; but
not to me, for my deep, unreasoning love for this
woman made all that she did seem right and
proper, her every movement adorable.

At last Sabas returned to the world of conscious-
ness, and asked of his mother, who was in front of
him, that which has been asked so many times:

"Where ami?"

"With your wife!"

" With your mamma! "

" Who adores you! "

" Who idolizes you! "

Pour feminine arms embraced him, and four
lips were pressed almost at the same time above his
skinned nose.

His eyes wandered about the room at all of us
as if he did not know us, and were fixed at last
upon his wife; then he groaned frightfully:

"Matilde! Matilde! Matilde!"

Then he hugged her and fell back in an attack
of convulsive laughing. His loud laughter Joined
305

The Joy of Captain Ribot

to the sobbing of his wife and the wails of Dona
Amparo made a terrifying mixture that would
have melted the hardest heart. More, by virtue of
the contagion that all the world knows lies iu this
sort of an attack, I felt a shocking desire to laugh
also. By hard work I managed to stifle it. I left
the room and went down again to the dining-room.
The others were not long in foUowiug me, leaving
Sabas restored and at peace with his wife and his
mother. Ten minutes later they came down also.
Cristina gave the order to serve the soup, and I
observed with some astonishment that Sabas dined
with an excellent appetite, and during dinner
showed himself as gay and disputatious and smart
.as ever. His wife devoured him with eyes of
pure affection, and devoted herself to waiting upon
him.

When we finished, he rose before taking his
coffee, lighted a good cigar, and asked his brother-
in-law if he would let him take his cab.

" But are you going out? " his wife asked him
with surprise and annoyance.

" Yes; I am going to take my coffee at the Siglo.
I haven't seen a single one of my friends yet. I
shall be back soon."

MatUde tried to keep him, begging that he woidd
not go that night, caressing his hands, with no re-
sult except to make him cross. Observing, how-
ever, the bad effect this had upon us, he changed
206

The Joy of Captain Ribot

his tone and embraced her, saying in endearing
accents:

" Goosie! Aren't you going to let me go and cele-
brate our reconciliation? "

With this the infatuated wife was satisfied and
content, brushed the dust from his shoes, and went
with him to the cab door.

We remained in the dining-room some time.
Emilio was the first to start to bed, saying that he
felt sleepy. I thought that his hemorrhage had
affected him more than he had acknowledged. Ma-
tilde went up to put her children to bed. We re-
mained chatting, Isabelita and I in one corner,
Cristina and Castell in another, while Dona Am-
paro embroidered by the light of a lamp between.

This state of things impressed me uncomfort-
ably. We seemed like two pairs engaged in court-
ship, watched over by the mamma; and this idea, so
far as it concerned Cristina and Castell, could not
but fill me with great repugnance. Such was my
faith in that woman that I scarcely believed what I
saw. I was absent and melancholy, and with diffi-
culty kept up the conversation with my intended.

My intended! The winds were driving me upon
a coast where I didn't know whether I was going to
be shipwrecked or find a snug harbor. I con-
fessed to myself with alarm that since my dreadful
convictions about Cristina, my heart was less in-
clined than ever to admit another woman.
207

The Joy of Captain Ribot

When Matilde eame down after getting her chil-
dren to bed, in order to get out of this scarcely de-
cent situation, and also to rid myself a little of the
sadness that overpowered me, I proposed that we
take a turn in the park. The proposition met with
favor, and Cristina was the first to accept it, rising
from the sofa where she had been sitting. But
Castell said, with his usual decision:

" I don't feel equal to it. It is much too damp
in the park at this hour."

Cristina turned and sat down again beside him.

" We are not so much in fear of dying, are we,
Matilde ? " I said smiling. She and Isabelita fol-
lowed me. Dona Amparo stayed with her daugh-
ter and Castell. We went to the end of the garden,
and from there entered the open spaces of the park,
where the balmy air did me a great deal of good,
for my brow had been burning and my heart filled
with mournful presentiments.

208

CHAPTEE XIII.

THE park, wrapped in the shades of night, seemed
like a forest; it was more grand and mys-
terious. The magnolias, cypresses, and araucarias
that half covered the ground might be imagined
cavaliers wrapped in their cloaks, silent and
threatening. The foliage did not stir; the grav-
elled roads scarcely showed their whiteness; the
footpaths were submissive to the darkness. We
followed the first of these in a sort of vague dis-
quiet, exchanging few words. The same emotion
seemed to seal our lips and oppress our hearts.
"When I recall those first moments of that night
and the overwhelming melancholy that oppressed
me, I cannot help being a bit superstitious.

But if the darkness inspired sadness and a vague
dread, the fragrances, some sweet, some keen, that
filtered through the silent leaves, invited us to go
farther. We inhaled, as we went on our way, a
thousand delicious odors, from the scarcely per-
ceptible breath of violets to the strong, dominating
perfume of the magnolia.

On arriving at a certain place, a sort of little
opening where the languorous, sensuous perfume
14 309

The Joy of Captain Ribot

of heliotrope dominated all others, Matilde made a
gesture of pleasure. It was her favorite fragrance.
She would not let us go any farther, and made us
sit down on a rustic bench so that she could get her
fill of it, as she said. But, unluckily, that per-
fume, subtle with Oriental love, immediately re-
called to her memory the poetical image of her
spouse. And, fascinated by this recollection, she
entertained us for some time by relating the most
interesting particulars of his domestic life — at
what hour this extraordinary beiug got up in the
morning, how soon afterwards a glass of water with
lemon in it was introduced into his precious or-
ganism, how many slices of toast he took with his
coffee, how many pipes he smoked, how he walked
about the house, and even how, every Thursday,
he took magnesia to cleanse and purify this splen-
did work of nature.

As if in sympathy with her enthusiasm, and de-
siring to give testimony to the admiration that
such a rare and beautiful subject inspired, a gentle
light suddenly shone over the place. We turned
our eyes towards the sea, and saw the moon coming
up above its quiet waves. The waters smiled; in
the park the silver, smooth leaves of the magnolias,
the silky-whiteness of the roses, the tops of the
eannas and laurels glittered in luminous points of
light. The darkness fled away into the depths of
the thickets, forming dense, impenetrable masses.
210

The Joy of Captain Ribot

Soon the moonlight began penetrating these also,
as the moon rose higher in the azure vault, scatter-
ing golden rays.

Matilde, who was reminded by everything in
heaven or on earth of Sabas, thought that it was
now time to get his bed ready for him, and asked
us to come into the house. Isabelita did not wish
to go so soon. The night was delicious; she would
stay alone with me. I did not wish to say anything
about the unusualness of this, to disturb her
angelic innocence. We sat for some moments on
the same bench, chatting about indifferent matters.

I was not long, however, in bringing the con-
versation to our projected marriage. It interested
her inmiensely. She must have six dozen of
chemises, and four of petticoats, and three of this,
and eight of that. I could not help her much in
all that. I was absent-mirided or critical, and,
without knowing why, responded but poorly and
with little tact when she consulted me. But my
attention was held when the child began to talk
about our house, and the expenses it would occa-
sion, and the expenditures we must count upon to
furnish it. I was surprised at the ease and capa-
city wherewith she discussed economic subjects.
She not only understood what concerned her
father's business, but also exchange, discounting
bills, stocks, and so on. For some time I listened
with amazement while she discussed the probable
211

The Joy of Captain Ribot

rise of certain public stocks that her father had
recently bought, of the transferring of others that
he held, of the sudden fall of the stock of the
tobacco company, of treasury bonds, and a thou-
sand other things of whose existence I scarcely
knew. This financial erudition did not impress
me agreeably. I understood the necessity of a
woman's having some knowledge of afEairs in order
to rule over her house properly; but so much mer-
cantile knowledge shocked my temperament, which
was not at all practical, and, more yet, the idea it
gave me of this young creature. It seemed impos-
sible that such old words could issue from such
youthful lips.

But this was not the only thing. Going on
fr6m one thing to another with strange smartness,
the child reached the point of inquiring the amount
of my capital. I did not try to hide it from her.
At the first hint I told her, with complete clearness,
one house, a little land, a few bonds of the company
in whose service I had been — about sixty thousand
dollars all reckoned.

Isabelita kept silence a moment.

" It isn't much," she said at last, with a certain
antagonistic inflection I did not know in her.

And, after another pause, she added, with a
forced smile:

" My father thought that you were much richer."

" But you perceive how mistaken he was," I said,
212

The Joy of Captain Ribot

with a smile still more forced. "We are almost
always deceived about others, sometimes thinking
them richer than they are, sometimes more noble."

This was all that I said. I felt an enormous,
overwhelming repugnance, almost a nausea. In
one instant I had made up my mind. I would not
marry this self -hawker, with her angelic profile, for
all the treasures of earth.

And, curiously, as soon as I made this resolution,
I felt at peace and almost happy. I felt as if I had
thrown off a great load. So, to the surprise of
Eetamoso's daughter, who had remained thought-
ful, and a little put out by my words, I began to
show myself gay and never more merry.

But the evening was advancing, and as I was
not interested in conversation, and wished to be
alone and think over the proper method for break-
ing off with her, I proposed that we should return
to the house. As we got up we heard a murmur
as of people coming; we did not know any other
way except to sit down again. Castell and Cris-
tina sailed into the little open space. From the
darkness of the place where we were sitting, we
could see them plainly, for the moonlight com-
pletely enveloped them. I perceived at once that
the conversation was a serious one. He came along
smiling, bending his head insinuatingly towards
her, to talk close to her ear. Cristina was pale,
with frowning brow, her gaze hard, and fixed on

m

The Joy of Captain Ribot

space. I wished to get up at once, but Isabelita
held me back. They passed before us without
seeing us. As for him, we could not hear him,
because he spoke very low; but some of her words
reached our ears distinctly.

" There is nothing more to be said about that."
This sentence, uttered with unusual energy, im-
pressed us forcibly. Isabelita grasped my wrist
with a nervous hand and stood up to follow them.
And, truly, if curiosity excited her, my own was no
less; but as I knew where that would lead me,
and as it seemed to me indecorous to surprise such
a secret, I tried to stop her. It was useless. The
girl pulled away from me, and was off after them.
I followed also, determining to do something to
attract their attention in some way. But by this
time I could no longer see Isabelita. I went for-
ward in the darkness, which was there very dense,
guided only by the sound of their voices. In a
few moments I realized that Castell and Cristina
had stopped. I still advanced and saw that they
were in a glorieta, or arbor, formed by four great
laurels, planted a little distance apart, whose
branches interlaced. I approached with a cautious
step. Isabelita was outside the arbor with her ear
glued to the branches. When I came up to her,
she flashed one hand over my mouth and the other
arm about my neck so hard that she hurt me. I
was stupefied by such violence, whose reason I
214

The Joy of Captain Ribot

could not imagine. Weakly, and because I thought
it would save Cristina's modesty, I remained pas-
sive and quiet.

" Perhaps you consider," said Castell, " my pa-
tience of several years, my sufEerings, the silent,
constant service I have given you, a mere caprice.
Perhaps you suppose that my self-love is concerned
in this rather than a deep, irresistible passion.
Have I not an equal right to suppose that the dis-
dain with which you have so many times humili-
ated me is the work of pride and of obstinacy more
than of virtue?"

" You may suppose whatever you like. The way
you judge me "

" I know you," interrupted Castell. " Nobody
could be more charming. I have never found a
woman whose beauty and whose character appeared
to me more interesting and worthy of admiration."

I heard a slight sniff of disdain and then these
words:

" I would prefer you to admire me less, and let
me live more at peace. But it is not about this
that I wish to talk at present. I consented to come
out with you, and find myself here at this improper
hour, at the risk of my husband's honor, which is
dearer to me than life, because I see a way to solve
the problem of my life. Eieh or poor, happy or
disgraced, I am resolved to live in honor and
peace."

215

The Joy of Captain Ribot

Nobody can imagine exactly what went on
within me at that moment. The horrible sus-
picions, almost certainties, which had smeared the
image of my idol, fled like black spectres. I saw
her again in all her purity, with an aureole of vir-
tue that was her glory and charm. A celestial
happiness descended into my heart. All my body
trembled, seized with an irresistible emotion.

" You might search everywhere, you might look
the wide world over, for one whose happiness con-
cerns me more than your own, and you could not
find one," said Castell.

" That is very little to say," replied Cristina with
a sarcastic accent.

" Because you think that nothing on earth moves
me or interests me, don't you? There you are
wrong. Before I gave rein to this disgraceful pas-
sion, I lived in a state of perpetual interest in all
things. Cities, mountains, rivers, the ocean, so-
ciety, art, passing affections, everything moved me
and attracted me. To-day all these things are
objects of loathing in my eyes. Barren boredom,
a wearing contempt, and a causeless weariness dog
me everywhere, surrounding me like poisonous
vapors. All the nerves of my life are parched —
except one. When this is stirred, my being trem-
bles, my faculties are roused, the horrible spell that
binds me is broken, and daylight breaks upon my

spirit "

216

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" Better say night. A bad conscience has need
of night."

" Conscience always stops on the steps of the
temple of love. Did you ever know anyone who,
truly in love with a woman, devoured by desire
for her, has been hindered by conscience ? I know
nobody. If any human being came to me with a
tale like that, I should tell him frankly that he
lied. No mouse ever hesitated before cheese; no
man before a woman, in fear of his conscience."

"All the worse for men if that is so. But I
repeat it is not about this that I wish to speak at
this moment. At the risk of your carrying out
your half-veiled threats, I am resolved to put an
end to this persecution, and it shall be ended. In-
deed, it shall be ended! "

" Do you know one thing, Cristina? I have come
to think that you enjoy being obstinate rather than
virtuous."

" Do you know another thing, Castell? I have
always thought that there is no love whatever in
your make-up, but, instead, a monstrous vanity
that has need of satisfying itself at the cost of the
honor and happiness of your best friend."

"If there was nothing in me but vanity, how
long would it have taken it to be revenged upon
this scorn, these insults? I doubt if there is a
woman in the world who knows how better to cut
the heart with a gesture, envenom the soul, and
217

The Joy of Captain Ribot

fill it with mad anger by a glance. I am persuaded
that you cannot love, but only scorn, a man. If
you condescend to your husband, it is because he
is a poor, miserable thing who doesn't dare hold
up his head in your presence."

" Spare your insults! This is well! If you had
always talked like this, I should have been saved
much pain. Now let us come to the other matter.
It is absolutely necessary that from this night
henceforth you must cease to mortify me, either
with words, looks, or hints of any kind. It is ab-
solutely necessary that, if you cannot treat me with
respect as the wife of your friend, I should be to
you as any indifferent person. And, further, I am
resolved, thinking everything over, to give an ac-
count of what has passed to my husband."

" This is decreed? " he asked in a mocking tone.

" This is decreed! " she said angrily.

There was a pause.

"And are you not afraid," he asked at last,
speaking slowly, "if following upon the thou-
sand tortures and humiliations that you have made
me suffer, and my despair of ever being successful
with you, if no compassion follows, that my love
might be turned into hate, and that I take means
that the event which overthrows me should engulf
you and yours in yet more frightful ruin? "

"No, I am not afraid," she replied with fiery
pride.

218

The Joy of Captain Ribot

"You do well. I shall not take any revenge
whatever."

" You may do it if you choose," she interrupted
him impetuously. "Emilio is a man who likes
luxuries and comforts, I know, but he cares very
much more for his wife and his honor. If the al-
ternative were offered him, he would give his for-
tune gladly, if not also his life. So you may ruin
him as soon as you please. If nothing is left us,
we two can go to work. But when he finds himself
ia somebody's ofBee as a humble clerk, nobody can
come up to him and call him a complaisant hus-
band; and when I go through the streets, the people
in Valencia may lean out of their balcony windows
and say: ' This poor woman that we see there with
a basket on her arm used to have her carriage and
go dressed in her silks; ' but they shall not say,
I swear it, ' She who goes yonder is a prostitute.' "

Her voice sank as she uttered the word. I felt
my throat constrict.

" Oh, oh! this is too much! " exclaimed Castell.

" Yes." She repeated the word firmly. " And
it is all the same whether one sells oneself for fear
or to get money."

"Pardon me, Cristina, but it seems to me that
you are giving the conversation rather a romantic
turn. 'A basket on her arm.' This is folly! I
call your good judgment in against such nonsense.
Here is a man who loves you with all the strength
319

The Joy of Captain Ribot

of his soul, who to win your love would be capable
of making any sacrifice, even of his life. You
have already taken away all my hope, and, in
abandoning the contest, at least don't make me out
a seducer in a novel of the kind that stirs up the
wrath of dressmakers."

"Let us stop talking. I cannot stay here any
longer," she said. I could see that she stood up.

" Yes, let us put an end to it. I give up trying
for you, but not loving you. I renounce the idea
of vengeance, as I have told you. But understand,
however, that this is only a truce. My hopes that
you will love me some day will not be banished.
Separated from you, I shall wait with patience for
a time when our paths shall cross again and I shall
offer you the poor heart that you have coldly
trampled upon."

" Very well. Good-by."

Castell also stood up. More by Cristina's next
words than by what I could really see, I understood
that he was holding her.

" Let me go! "

" Before you go, I want the reward that my sacri-
fice merits. Let me kiss these glorious eyes."

" Let me go! " she repeated forcibly and fiercely.

" I have renounced all," he said as energetically,
but lowering his voice; " but I swear to you I will
not renounce this kiss, if it costs me my life."

" Let me go, or I shall scream."
220

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" Scream as much as you like. If you want to
make a scandal and perhaps kill your husband —
his death for one kiss — I am willing."

At that moment I entered the glorieta and put
my hand on his shoulder.

"Who is it? Who goes there?" he exclaimed,
giving a jump that separated him widely from
Cristina.

" There is no need of being alarmed. It's me."

"And who are you?" he replied, drawing a
revolver and pointing it at me.

" Keep your gun for thieves, or hold it in readi-
ness for some traitor who, abusing the confidence
reposed in him, tries to seize upon honor and hap-
piness. There are no thieves or traitors here."

" If there are no thieves, there are at least per-
sons about devoting themselves to overhearing
private conversations. But for such persons a
whip would be more suitable than a revolver," he
returned in sarcastic tones.

" Keep your sarcasms likewise for a more op-
portune occasion. Nobody here has tried to over-
hear conversations. They are heard when they
come to one's ears, and I am sincerely sorry that I
was here at this time to hear them. If I had been
asleep in my bed, I should have avoided the sorrow
of entering into the foul and hidden corners of
the human conscience."

" You lie! " he cried, coming wrathfully towards
331

The Joy of Captain Ribot

me. " You were spying upon us. How can you
talk of foulness when you are sunk in filth your-
self? You have been spying upon us, I repeat it.
I have seen you doing that for some time past. By
what right do you follow our steps and pretend
to interfere in the affairs of this family, you who
are an outsider?"

" An outsider interferes when he sees anyone is
in need of help," I replied calmly. " Moreover, I
have not the habit of following any path, except
those of the ocean currents. I have not insulted
you, and you have no right to iasult me as you
have been doing."

Then he, perhaps taking my calmness for cow-
ardice, or possibly wishing to provoke a violent
scene, so as to extricate himself from his difficulty,
grabbed me by the lapels of my coat, shook me,
and bringing his threatening face up to mine,
yelled:

"Yes, senor, you have followed us, and I will
not endure it. Do you hear? Yes, I have insulted
you, and why? Are you not satisfied with one in-
sult? Then here goes for another."

I caught his arm in air. I caught hold of
the other one also, and holding him like a vise,
because here my greater muscular strength was of
service, gave him several shakings and forced him
backwards into the foliage of the arbor.

A voice sounded in my ears:
332

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" Give up, Enrique, give up! Don't risk your
life for anybody! "

I paused, stupefied. My fingers relaxed their
hold and released their captive. Turning my
head, I saw before me the virginal figure of Isa-
belita. Yes, it was she.

" Thank you very much," I said smiling.

But I was of no consequence. She did not even
glance my way. "With an agitated countenance,
her eyes fixed upon Castell, she took his hand and
led him out of the glorieta.

233

CHAPTEE XIV.

CRISTINA was sitting down, her face hidden in
her hands. I went up to her.

"Forgive me for coming in here. I was not
master of myself."

"You did exactly right; thank you," she mur-
mured, without changing her position.

We remaiaed silent. Presently, rising abruptly,
she exclaimed:

" Come, let us go in! let us go in! "

And emerging from the glorieta, she went hastily
towards the house. I followed her, and catching
up with her, suggested the propriety of not pre-
senting herself in such a disturbed state to Emilio.

She did not reply to me, but she changed her
direction, and turned her steps towards a narrow
acacia path, where the light of the moon could
scarcely penetrate. I soon lost sight of her. I
paused a moment, debating whether to go on to the
house or follow her. I decided upon the last, be-
cause I was afraid she might stumble anew upon
Castell.

I followed the path, and saw her as she came out
in front of the little pavilion that bore her name.
324

The Joy of Captain Ribot

I joined her and advised her to rest there a mo-
ment.

The salon, profusely adorned with statues and
vases, offered at this hour a mysterious enchant-
ment. The moon shone through the crystalline
windows. The polished furniture, the porcelains,
the pictures hanging on the wall, reflected the
moonlight mournfully. The marble statues threw
huge dark shadows upon the walls, tragic and
threatening.

Cristina dropped upon a sofa, and I sat down
beside her.

"We remained silent for some time.

" When, for the first time," I said at last, " I had
the pleasure to enter your house, I felt as if I saw
a little bit of heaven below — ^joy, cordiality, serene
and innocent happiness, the tender love of a wife
who inspires respect, the restful felicity of a hus-
band free from any of the suspicions that embitter
existence— a yoke of love and peace; and about
you plenty, riches, all the good gifts of life. Shall
I surprise you if I say that among the leafage of
so many joys I have seen uplifted the head of the
serpent? "

" I do not doubt it," she replied pensively, look-
ing out at the heavens through the crystal-clear
windows.

" If I could not see your face, I should still be
able to divine what you are feeling. Your eyes
15 325

The Joy of Captain Ribot

are not able to conceal what passes in your soul.
How happy you would have made me by confiding
to me your troubles! I am a new friend, I know,
but the affection that you and Emilio inspire in me
could not be more sincere."

" Thank you, thank you, Captain Eibot," she
murmured, " but it is not possible."

"It is not possible, truly. How could it be
when I lack skill to persuade you of the sincerity
of my sentiments? I confess that there have been
reasons why you should not give me your confi-
dence. I have repented with all my soul, and I
beg your forgiveness."

As if these words agitated her, she rose, pushed
aside a hanging curtain, went to the piano that
stood open, ran her fingers over the keys, then
came and sat down again.

"I understand by what I overheard," I said,
after a pause, "that Castell has some hold over
you — that you are in his debt."

" Our entire fortune is in his hands."

"What!"

" Emilio has been to him for money to use in
his business, which was ruined."

" And this was given in the hope of obliging you
to accept his devotion?"

"It is possible. Castell is more of a business
man than a lover. No matter what he pretends,
buying and selling is his business. He has always
236

The Joy of Captain Ribot

had the idea of getting absolute control of the
steamboat line."

" I suppose that after what has been overheard,
he will desist for a little in trying to get possession
of it."

" I don't know."

She sat thoughtful for a few moments. Then, as
if she were talking to herself, she said in a dull voice:

" The day that Emilio and I were married he was
at my house from the hour of the ceremony until
I went to change my dress. We were going to
Madrid to spend a few days. When I came down,
I stumbled upon him waiting for me on the stairs.
He made some gallant speeches to me at that time,
and begged a spray of my orange flowers, which
he put next his heart. I gave it to him against
my will, from bashfulness, from timidity. He was
repulsive to me from the first moment. Later,
when we were at the station, and he came to give
me his hand for good-by, he said, almost in my
ear, ' If some day it chances that you get tired of
him, remember that he has friends who admire
you as much or more than he does.' "

" What iasolence! "

" I did not like to say anything to my husband
then; I have not wished to since. The friendship
that united them was strong, and I hesitated to
break it. How many times since then I have asked
myself if I did right or wrong! "
337

The Joy of Captain Ribot

"And before that he had not addressed you
especially? "

" Yes, and no. Once we were at Denia. Castell
was there, and I danced with him at a ball at the
house of some friends; it was several months before
I knew Emilio. That evening he made a little love
to me and almost declared himself. I took that
for what it was, the diversion of a traveller who
does everything he can think of to keep from being
bored. And, indeed, he left Denia, and Spain,
and spent nearly two years in travelling. When
he came back, I was going to be married to Emilio.
It was only a fortnight before the wedding."

" Providence has been cruel placing such a man
in your pathway, and giving him power to cause
you so much trouble."

She did not answer. • She remained thoughtful
for a while; at last, looking at me with her great
eyes full of interest, said:

" But you are so very, very good, Eibot. Don't
let us talk any more about my troubles, but think
of those that you have to bear."

" Bah! 'tis quite the contrary with me. I should
give thanks to God that I have been undeceived
in time. Somehow I have always suspected that
the girl was in love with Castell, although Emilio
and Sabas were so certain of something else. And,
to be frank, I also love someone else better."

" Then why don't you marry her? "
328

The Joy of Captain Ribot

"Because, because — I don't know why; that is
to say, if I knew and if you also knew — but there
are things that I do not care to confess to myself."

These words made her look troubled. I was
repentant at once, as the rays of the moon let me
see on her forehead that frown dreaded of yore.

"No, Cristina, no!" I hastened to say vehe-
mently, " I beg you not to think that which I read
in your eyes. I have been through bitter struggles,
despairing conflicts with myself. I have stumbled,
and fallen too, but I have risen; and — I can say it
without pride — ^never shall treachery find shelter in
my breast. I have not Castell's brilliant qualities.
I am far from possessing the advantages that make
that man admired and sought after; but if I pos-
sessed them all, I swear I would not use them to
stab a friend in the back. Far more than the satis-
factions of love, more than all the enjoyments of
earth — and even those of heaven if they were of-
fered me — I hold the peace of my own conscience."

The warmth of my tones and the sincerity of ex-
pression with which I uttered these words made her
lift her head and look at me in a slight amaze;
Her brow grew calm, and a sweet smile lingered
upon her lips.

"Yes, I have already come to see that you
are more original in that way than could at first
have been imagined. I think it much better this
way."

329

The Joy of Captain Ribot

And saying so, she graciously held out her hand
to me, and I pressed it with as much respect as emo-
tion. At this moment a shadow fell across us,
then one appeared before us, saying:

" Good-evening."

Both Cristina and I were painfully startled.

"You here, Emilio? I thought you had gone
to bed," she said, instantly controlling herseK.

" No, no; I didn't go to bed. I felt the heat,
like the rest of you, and came out for a turn in the
garden. I heard the sound of conversation, so I
came in."

In spite of the natural voice he made a point of
using, there was something in his manner and a
strangeness in his tones that disquieted us im-
mensely.

" It is a very beautiful night," he went on, begin-
ning to walk up and down the place with his hands
in his pockets. "The month of September has
not fallen behind August. Even in the mornings
it is scarcely cool yet. I found I had no desire to
go to bed."

I replied to him in words as unimportant as his
own. He gave no sign of having heard me. He
went on walking up and down in an absorbed man-
ner, and at last he went over to the balcony and
stood motionless looking out through the glass.
Then he opened one of the windows and stepped
outside to get more of the cool night air.
230

The Joy of Captain Ribot

Cristina gazed at him without moving an eyelash.
In her eyes a great anguish was visible. She
seemed alarmed. Thus several minutes passed in
silence. At last, as if unable longer to endure this
tension, she rose impetuously, went to her husband
and put her hand on his shoulder, saying:

" Come, let us go to the house."

" As you like," he replied dryly.

"We went out of the pavilion and along the avenue
of acacias that led to it. I tried to walk with Marti
and to talk with him. I saw that he shrank from
my company, and answered with few words. Be-
fore reaching the house he took his wife's arm and
went on ahead, leaving me behind. This mute
rebuff made my heart ache. I followed with a
sadness that presently gave way to decided impa-
tience, thinking with what injustice I was treated.
As we went along in this fashion, there came into
my mind the strong resolution to enter into a clear
and definite explanation with him, and disclose to
him all that had passed.

We arrived at the door of the house and paused
under the glass portico. Through the opened win-
dow of the dining-room I could see Isabelita, Cas-
tell, and Dona Amparo.

" Come," I said, with affected indifference, " you
two are going to bed and I into the city."

"Won't you wait until we can order the car-
riage? " asked Cristina timidly.
331

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" No; I have an appetite for a stroll in the light
of the moon. Hasta manana. Good-night."

I offered EmUio my hand.

" No," he said, with an unusual gravity. " I am
going with you as far as the farthest gateway. I,
too, feel like a stroll."

I gave my hand to Cristina. For the first time
in her life she pressed it with singular force, at the
same time giving me an anxious look of supplica-
tion. I, moved to the depths of the soul, answered
her eyes with my own, promising her in that way
that she might depend upon me.

We walked away slowly, taking the path that
led to the entrance gate. Marti walked with his
hat in his hand, and preserved an obstinate silence.
I waited for him to break it before we parted,
promising myself to be faithful to the silent
promise that I had made to Cristina. So it was he
who, as we approached the boundary wall, paused
and, without looking at me, spoke:

" Married men, Eibot, often have an exaggerated
susceptibility. Not only do their own affections
torment them, but the fear of becoming objects of
ridicule sometimes obliges them to be suspicious
even when they are by nature confiding. The
friends of such men do well to avoid awakening
this susceptibility, conducting themselves on all
occasions with care and delicacy. By this means
friendship is yoked to gratitude."
283

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" You are right," I replied. " So far in my life
I have managed to fulfil this obligation towards all
men with whom I have had to do, not merely
towards friends, as you say, but towards men of
my general acquaintance. An unfortunate accident
placed me in a situation that wounds your amor
propria, if not your honor. Understand, however,
that Cristina "

" We will not talk of Cristina," he interrupted,
gazing firmly into my eyes. " Every night of the
year before going to sleep I give thanks to God for
having united me to her. To-night will be the
same as the others."

" "We will talk about me, then. An unfortunate
accident, I repeat, placed me in a situation to hurt
the susceptibility that has been mentioned. I de-
plore this with all my soul, although I do not find
myself to blame. In any case, it would have been
an indiscretion. However, these matters are of
such peculiar delicacy that a recent friendship can-
not risk the consequences of the slightest annoy-
ance. If you feel any such annoyance, I am re-
solved to take myself away from here, and never
again set foot in your house."

There was no response. We pursued in silence
the remaining distance to the gate. When we
reached it, he paused and, without looking at me,
said in a trembling voice:

" Although I feel it very much, I cannot do less
233

The Joy of Captain Ribot

than accept your resolution. Perhaps I am mak-
ing myself ridiculoiis in your eyes and in those of
anyone who might know of what has passed; but
what would you? I prefer to be considered absurd
rather than see disturbed in the slightest degree
the tranquillity that until now I have enjoyed."

''You are right/' I said. "In your place I
should do the same. To-morrow morning early I
shall leave Valencia, and it may be that we shall
never meet again. I desire you to know, none the
less, that this is one of the profoundest griefs of
my whole life. I appreciate your friendship more
than you realize. I am grateful for your affection-
ate hospitality, and I shall never console myself
for having unintentionally caused you the least
trouble. If some day you have need of me, all
that I have is yours."

" Thank you, thank you, Eibot," he murmured,
moved.

He put one hand on the latch of the gate, and
with the other lifted his hat. I did not care to let
him see that I knew he did this to avoid taking
my hand, so, without extending my own, I went out
into the road.

" Adios, Marti," I said, turning my head, " God
keep you always as happy as you have been until
now."

" Adios, Eibot. Muchas gracias."

334

CHAPTEE XV.

THE gate closed. Through its bars I could see
him going farther and farther away, his un-
covered head bowed, until he was lost to sight
among the trees. I stood alone in the middle of
the road. A profound depression filled me; it was
as if I had lost something that had been the chief
interest of my existence.

With slow step I began my departure from that
pleasant place, believing that I should never re-
turn to tread this path again. Indeed, these latest
events had followed one another so hastUy and pre-
cipitately that I could scarcely realize them. One
moment I had been in that house as the accepted
friend about to become a member of the family.
The next, I left it as a stranger whose name would
soon be forgotten. Yet in the midst of my sorrow,
in the mournful night that had fallen upon my
heart, shone one consoling star; it was Cristina's
look of supplication. In that house, perhaps, my
name would now no more be spoken, but she would
never forget it. This thought gave me inexpres-
sible consolation. I went on my way with a firmer
335

The Joy of Captain Ribot

step, and when I came to the last corner of the
walls surrounding the estate, I stopped beside it.
I looked at it sorrowfully for a little, then, going up
to the stone, I kissed it many times. Then I went
on again, blushing as if someone had seen me.

The moon on high bathed the country in lumi-
nous purity, transforming it into a sleeping lake.
The plain stretched before me, bordered by the
mountains whose crests seemed floating in the dis-
tance in a white mist. Here and there the little
groves of orange-trees and laurel stood out in the
fleecy whiteness, or great cypresses rose solitary and
still, casting their shadows across the road. Be-
yond smiled the sea, reflecting the light of the
moon.

The sweetness of that night penetrated my heart,
refreshing it. The fields, still abounding in
flowers and fragrant with the odors of ripe fruits,
soothed my senses and calmed the fever of my
thoughts. I went on with a lighter step. Valen-
cia already slumbered lightly upon her couch of
flowers. Her street lights shone afar like stars of
earth. Those of the heavens formed a rich canopy
above, protecting that fortunate city.

When at some distance from the country house,
I felt the need of resting a little while. I did not
care yet to be among people. It was necessary
to get my thoughts together and contrive some
plan of life in place of that that had, in one mo-
236

The Joy of Captain Ribot

meat, been upset. I sat down on a stone, drew out
a cigar, lighted it, and calmly began smoking. I
had not been sitting there long when I heard the
sound of an approaching carriage. At first I did
not know whether it was coming from Valencia or
Cabanal. When I was convinced it was from
the latter, I felt strangely uneasy, and thought
of concealing myself; but instantly changing my
mind, I determined to remain where I was. Soon
I descried the horses; they drew near. It was Cas-
tell's cab, as I feared.

When he was quite close I planted myself in the
middle of the road and called to the coachman in
an imperative voice:

" Stop! "

He made a gesture of surprise, but stopped the
horses almost as they came upon me. As he was
pulling them in with the reins, obliging them to
stop in time, the man recognized me and said:

" Good evening, Don Julian."

Castell had been leaning half out of the window.
When I approached him he looked at me in surprise,
then springing up with a fiery gesture he reached
for his pocket, crying:

" If this is an attack, take care! "

" 'No, it is not an attack," I said, lifting my hand
in sign of peace; " I wish to speak with you."

" Send me your seconds and I will speak with
them," he said haughtily.
337

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" Before doing that, it is necessary to speak with
you a moment," I replied.

He stared at me a little whUe as if trying to dis-
cern my intentions. Convinced, doubtless, that
they were not bellicose, he opened the cab door and
said coolly:

" Get in! "

I sat down facing him. The carriage went
onward.

" I desire to know," I said, at the end of a mo-
ment, " if it was you who let Marti know that he
would find Cristina and me alone in the pavilion? "

He opened his eyes wide in no feigned surprise,
and answered in an ungracious manner:

" I don't understand what you are saying to me."

I perceived that this was true, and I went on,
modifying my tone.

" After you and I separated, she and I went along
the acacia path to the pavilion, for the purpose of
giving Cristina time to recover herself before going
to the house. She found herself very much upset
and did not care to present herself to her husband
in that state. After we had been there a little
while, Marti came unexpectedly. He was angry,
naturally; sought an explanation with me, and in
consequence I have left his house never to return."

"I knew nothing of it. Although I feel no
obligation to give you any satisfaction whatever,
since there is a question between us to be settled
238

The Joy of Captain Ribot

on other grounds, I will yet tell you that I did not
speak one word to Marti about the affair. It rests
with you to believe me, or not. But it certainly
surprises me that after having had an explanation
with him, you should leave his house and now be
talking with me as cordially as ever."

" It is very simple. I did not speak one word
about what I had just heard."

"You have allowed him to suspect you of
treachery?" he asked in the greatest surprise.

" Yes, senor."

" And why have you done so? "

" For my pleasure."

He cast a hostile, suspicious glance at me,
shrugged his shoulders, and remained silent. I
broke the silence after a moment.

" The pleasures of men, Castell, are as varied as
their physiognomies. However much you may
have thought yourself in love with Cristina, I be-
lieve I was more. I adored her with all my soul,
with all the powers of my heart. But to win her
by treacherous means would, far from causing me
joy, be the worst misfortune that could befall me
upon earth. I should never sleep quietly again.
I have made a cruel sacrifice, but I have made it
for love of her, for the peace of my conscience.
The tears that you see in my eyes now refresh my
soul; they do not scorch it. I am going away,
going away for good. You will remain, and per-
339

The Joy of Captain Ribot

haps time may bring it about that you can gain
what I have so much desired; but wandering upon
the sea, alone on the deck of my ship, I shall be
happier than you. The stars of heaven shining
above me will say: ' Be joyful, for you have done
right.' The wind whistling through the rigging,
the waves breaking against the sides will say: ' Joy-
ful, joyful! ' "

The light of the moon illuminated his face. I
saw a smile gradually spread over it.

" These same waves that will say such agreeable
things to you will think nothing of swallowing you
like a fly some day. The winds will help them
finish the task, and the stars of heaven will be pres-
ent with all possible serenity. You are living in a
profound error, Eibot. There is no other happi-
ness upon earth except in possessing what one
desires."

" Although to get it you stab a friend to death
from behind? "

There was a moment of suspense, but he pres-
ently said firmly:

"Although to get it 'twere necessary to walk
over men."

" There is neither good nor evil, then? "

" In life the good of some is the evil of others,

and it will be so to the end of time. You may have

seen some time a nest of swallows? The little ones

wait anxiously for the arrival of the mother; she

340

The Joy of Captain Ribot

comes gently, opens her bill and, with loving care,
feeds them one by one. How interesting! How
full of tenderness such a sight! But the insects
that have been destroyed and fall into the beak
of the swallow to serve her in feeding her children
— does the spectacle seem so tender and interesting
to them? On the other hand, you see a man go
stealthily up to another, knock him down with a
blow, take the money out of his purse and carry
it away to his house to buy bread for his children.
How horrible! You shudder and hurry quickly
away from such a scene. But why? If you were
an insect you would go along there buzzing joy-
ously."

" But we are given a conscience."

" Conscience does not prevent us from being
fatally fettered. You find yourself in love with
Cristina, the same as I am; both of us desire her.
You are held back by fear of remorse, but I pursue
my undertaking with no fears whatever. We both
follow an instinct. Mine is more sane, because
it tends to augment my vitality, while yours tends
to diminish your strength. You need not laugh
nor be so much surprised. Eemorse in a world
where necessity rules is absurd. Think you that
the heroes of Homer and Aeschylus hesitated at
fratricide or incest? Yet they were, nevertheless,
the most noble examples of human kind."

"I am far from opposing you in augmenting
16 241

The Joy of Captain Ribot

your vitality," I replied, ironically; " but would it
not be better that you seek a wife of your own,
rather than another's."

" Another's, another's! " he repeated under his
breath. " That is conventional, like all the rest."

He remained thoughtful for several minutes,
looking out at the landscape through the window.
I watched him with a mixture of curiosity and
repugnance. Those blue eyes of his with their
steely reflections inspired me for the first time
with a sudden dread.

" The virtuous? Draupadi," he began saying
slowly, without taking his eyes from the scene,
" one of the most interesting heroines of antiquity
had five husbands, all brothers. Those heroes en-
joyed her love in common, without dishonor or
remorse. If we lived in like simplicity, to aspire
to Cristina would be moral and plausible; we should
be offering a woman two new protectors. Why
does it cause you so much horror to share a woman
with a friend? The world began in that way and
will end in that way."

" It may end as it chooses! " I exclaimed. " Now
and evermore, it will be a sin voluntarily to cause
pain."

" Don't be a chUd, Ribot," he replied with his
irritating self-sufficiency. " There is only one un-
deniable truth in this world, and that is the com-
mon impulse of plants and animals, insects and
'243

The Joy of Captain Ribot

man. In the serene region where life abides, ever-
lasting life, sorrow and death, signify nothing. The
one supreme end of the universe is to augment the
intensity of this life."

I did not respond. I remained thoughtful and
silent in my turn for some time, gazing out of the
other window at the road. At last I saw the first
houses of the suburbs.

"Will you have the kindness to ask the man
to stop? " I said; " I wish to get out here; and to-
morrow I leave Valencia without fighting with
you. Attribute this to cowardice if you like. It
will be a new sacrifice for me to make on the altar
of my love, and to the friendship that I owe Marti.
I do not aspire to be a Homeric hero like you, nor
dream of leaping triumphantly upon the bodies
of my enemies. Will you stop? "

He gave me a big, contemptuous stare, and
pulled the cord, saying coldly:

" I don't know whether or not you are a coward;
but I can tell you on the spot that you are one
of those people who are self-deceived, and live in
delusions concerning themselves and the world
about them."

The cab stopped. I opened the door and stepped
out upon the ground.

" Adios, Castell," I said, without giving him my
hand. "You may seek that happy region which
I do not desire to know. I will remain in this
243

The Joy of Captain Ribot

other that is more sorrowful yet more honor-
ahle."

He shrugged his shoulders without answering,
and turned his eyes away from me disdainfully, as
he again pulled the cord. Then he leaned back
comfortably. The carriage departed, and I began
walking slowly towards my hotel. I followed the
white highroad whereon scattering houses now east
shadows, until I reached the city's streets, and lost
myself in their labyrinth.

In the Calle del Mar I found myself in front
of the house of Cristina. On her bedroom balcony
grew a rose-mallow. I made sure that nobody saw
me, then I climbed up to it and picked some of its
leaves. I went to the hotel, and up to my room,
and was soon sleeping sweetly with those leaves
held fast in my hand.

244

CHAPTEE XVI.

ONCE more the sea! Port traffic^ the noise of
loading and unloading, troublesome business
in the consignees' office — afterwards lonely, tran-
quil hours lulled by the songs of the sailors and
the murmur of waters against the keel! I did
not let my dream of love weigh down my soul. At
the end of several months, it remained a tender and
poetic impression which gave reality to my exis-
tence. Yet when one night we passed Valencia,
and I saw the lights of Cabanal shining in the dis-
tance, I was surprised to find myself singing on the
bridge in a low voice the farewell from " Gru-
mete " —

" Si en la nocha callada
Sientes el viento ! "

And, without being able to help it, my eyes filled
with tears like a sentimental female. But that
soon passed, and I soon recovered the joyous mood
which seldom, thank heaven, forsook me.

I heard from a friend in Barcelona that Castell
had married Isabelita Eetamoso. Much good may
it do! I learned from the same man that the
245

The Joy of Captain Ribot

steamship company, Castell and Marti, had gone to
pieces, and that both partners were involved in a
ruinous lawsuit. On hearing that, I could not re-
frain from exclaiming with exquisite delight:
" Euined, it may be! but dishonored, no! "
My friend stared at me surprised, and it cost me
not a little to evade an explanation. Did not some
self-satisfaction enter into my pleasure? I am
almost sure it did. I do not give myself out for
a saint, and not even the saints are able to get rid
of self-love entirely. At last, on my return from
Hamburg, after one of my voyages, I found in
Barcelona a letter that had been waiting for me
several days. It was from Marti, although written
in another hand. He told me that he was very iR,
and in trouble, and invited me in extremely affec-
tionate terms to come and make him a visit if it
were possible. He did not explain what his
troubles were, nor allude in the least to the mis-
understanding that had been between us, perhaps
not to let his amanuensis into our secrets; but the
whole letter breathed of his hearty desire to be all
right with me again, and to make me forget my
unhappy departure from his house.

I took the train immediately for Valencia. I
entered the city at nightfall, one year and three
months after leaving it. I went to the hotel where
I had then stayed. The hotel-keeper received me
with cordial demonstration, and told me, without
246

The Joy of Captain Ribot

my asking, many details of the lawstiit between Cas-
tell and Marti. Marti was ruined. He had lost
his directing share in the steamboat line, in which
his partner still remained. Following that, to re-
imburse himself for capital loaned, Castell trans-
ferred Marti's credit. The creditors sold all his
property at auction, including that at Cabanal and
the house in the Calle del Mar.

" If, in spite of all this," said my host, " Don
Emilio enjoyed good health, he could easily get up
again, for he is young and he has a great head for
business. But the poor man is very ill, very ill.
I have not seen him for some time, but by all that
I hear it is his last sickness."

These words made me very sad. It was dinner-
time; but, although I went and sat down at table,
I could scarcely take a morsel of food. I went
out afterwards, intending to go to the house of
Marti — he was living now in an apartment in the
Calle de Caballeros. Before arriving I turned
about, fearing to disturb him at that hour, or cause
him any emotion that might hinder him. from rest-
ing well. I directed my steps to the residence of
his brother-in-law, Sabas, that he might prepare
Marti, or at least advise me when it would be best
for me to go to see him. Sabas's plump wife, as
lively, busy, and sweet as ever, received me with
her usual affability. Her idolized husband had
gone out.

247

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" He is at Emilio's house? " I said, as the natural
thing.

" No, I believe — " she hesitated. " You had
better go to the theatre. Maybe he is there. As
the doctor found Emilio better to-day, he said that
he would go and celebrate."

She blushed as she uttered these words. I
showed no surprise, in order not to increase her
confusion. After kissing my old friends, her chil-
dren, I went off to the theatre that she named in
search of their elegant papa.

"When I entered, the play had already begun. I
took up a position iu a corner behind the stalls and
scrutinized the theatre. I was not long in seeing
him in his place in a proscenium box. These
boxes in the provinces, as in the capital, are the
sacred spots, whence the superior beings of each
locality radiate their splendors. Accustomed to
lay down the law for the multitude, the gilded
youths who meet there, converse, argue, smoke, and
yawn, firmly convinced that they have no duties to
fulfil towards the masses, those who listen placidly
from the stalls. They dwell separate like the gods
of Olympus, in conscious enjoyment of their per-
fections and their power, grinning at the actors,
tossing compliments to the actresses, and from
time to time talking in loud voices with their kind
in the opposite boxes, over the heads of the rabble
of the unfashionable.

248

The Joy of Captain Ribot

Sabas belonged to the ruling caste, although his
face showed none of the marks that characterize it,
neither the flabby flesh, the pallid skin, nor the
loose mouth, signs of the life of self-indulgence.

His dark, sunburned face, peeled in places, of-
fered rather an extremely industrious aspect. It
would not have been strange if he had arrived that
same night from Madagascar or Java, after enrich-
ing himself in a caoutchouc expedition. This was
doubtless the opinion of the contralto of the com-
pany (much richer in avoirdupois than in voice), to
judge by the timid admiration and the blushes
wherewith she received his ardent compliments
every time that the exigencies of the piece obliged
her to go near his box. I sat dovm in one of the
lutacas and waited for the fall of the curtain. I
confess that I was less interested in what was going
on on the stage than in the play that was revealed
between the box and the footlights. Sabas, lean-
ing his chin in his hand with a purely Oriental
languor, fixed his gaze of serpent-like fascination
upon the contralto. She, overcome with an irre-
sistible terror, made efforts to flee from that glance
and escape. In vain. In spite of herself, even in
the most important scenes and against all the de-
mands of the play, she would break abruptly away
from the tenor in a love duet and turn towards
that tropical and fascinating man of the quivering
nostrils. She listened with eagerness to his voice
243

The Joy of Captain Ribot

vibrating like a cry in the desert, hoping ever that
he would end by offering her fifty elephants, a
necklace of pearls, and the heads of three rajahs,
his enemies.

When the act was ended I went without delay to
the box. Sabas received me with the grave indif-
ference which, in all perfectly cultivated countries,
expresses elegance. I explained my wishes at once.
He accepted them benignly; disdaining his con-
quest, secure like all heroes of arriving always in
time to conquer, he took his hat and we left the
theatre. We walked for some time in silence. I
felt my heart oppressed with sadness wherein I per-
ceived with alarm a certain anticipation of some-
thing pleasant. This something could be nothing
else than the presence of Cristina. Yes, I recog-
nized it with shame; yet in that sad hour it ab-
sorbed me more than anything else in the world.

Sabas stopped after a time, took his pipe from his
mouth, and, looking at me attentively some mo-
ments, remarked solemnly:

" You see how it is, friend Eibot. The madness
of my brother-in-law has carried him to the extreme
that I have prophesied so many times."

" Poor Bmilio! " I exclaimed.

"Yes, poor indeed. At present he hasn't a
peseta, nor anybody who will lend him one."

" The worst of all is, according to what has been
told me, his illness is very serious."
350

The Joy of Captain Ribot

He found nothing to answer to this. After a
while he again took out his pipe and paused.

"Does it seem to you, friend Eibot," he ex-
claimed ia indignant accents, " as if a man with a
family has the right to throw away his capital ac-
cording to his own caprices and reduce that family
to destitution?"

I shrugged my shoulders, without knowing what
to answer, suspecting that Sabas included himself
among the most important members of that suffer-
ing family.

He put his pipe back between his teeth, and hay-
ing, doubtless, thus got himself in connection with
his electric current, contrived to move onward. He
was not long in interrupting it, by taking out the
pipe again, spitting, and going on talking.

"I understand perfectly how a bachelor can
dispose of his means as he pleases; how, getting up
some morning out of humor, he could go out on
the balcony and toss over everything that he owns.
At most there is only himself to pay for the con-
sequences of his whims. But when a man who is
not alone in the world, who has assumed sacred
obligations to fulfil, throws himself into senseless
speculations and wastes an important property, his
conduct seems to me not merely imprudent, but
also immoral."

I did not doubt that Sabas included among these
sacred obligations that of providing him with
251

The Joy of Captain Ribot

means to submit to his own fascinations all the
sopranos and contraltos who presented themselves
on the .Valencian horizon; and not to say anything
impertinent, I determined to hold my peace. In
this manner, using his pipe like a manipulator of an
electric machine to retard or hasten his fancy, and
slopping over in a torrent of critical wisdom, we
reached at last the house where his brother-in-law
lived. It was not so sumptuous as that in the Calle
del Mar, but new and elegant. We mounted to the
apartment on the second floor, which was the one
that Marti occupied, and rang. Eegina, the old
doncella, came out to open for us, and on seeing me
could not refrain from a cry of surprise.

" Oh, Don Julian! "

" Silence! " I exclaimed, putting my finger on
my lips.

Next, I seized upon my god-daughter, taking her
in my arms and silently covering the ehUd with
warm and tender kisses. But she did not receive
them in the silence that was to be desired. Fright-
ened by my beard, and perhaps pricked by it, she
began at once crying to heaven.

I heard the voice of Cristina.

"Who is there?"

And she appeared from the end of the corridor.
On seeing me, she paused for an instant, then im-
mediately came on to me, holding out both hands
with an affectionate gesture.
S32

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" Oh, Captain! My poor Emilio is dying! "
I saw her eyes cloud with tears. I pressed those
beautiful hands that I held, and murmured some
words of hope. Perhaps her fears were exagger-
ated. Emilio had always enjoyed good health; but
this sort of temperament bore disease for many
years. I asked if it were possible to see him at
that hour, and, having been answered affirmatively,
made ready to go in. Cristina would not let me
enter untU she had first prepared him. He was
very nervous, and a sudden emotion might injure
him. While she was gone to perform this gentle
duty, Sabas improved the opportunity to give me
his hand, dark as an Asiatic colonial's, in good-by
and departed with his energetic characteristic im-
portance. Through the door that still stood open
I saw him go down the stairs carrying in his ardent
glance desolation and tears for the contralto.

"Come in, come in this minute! " It was the
voice of Emilio, a little hoarse, but as vigorous as
ever. I hastened towards the place whence came
the sound, and entered a room where the luxury
of the furniture was in contrast with the modesty
of the things in the rest of the place. He was re-
clining in an arm-chair with two cushions at his
back, wearing an elegant dressing-gown. The light
of a candle fell on his face, where I could see very
clearly the fatal signs of tuberculosis. But that
face was beautiful, more beautiful and more inter-
353

The Joy of Captain Ribot

esting than any I had ever seen. The hair of head
and beard was longer; this with the whiteness of
the skin and the great, black, melancholy eyes made
him look like the Nazarene. Those eyes shone at
sight of me with a frank and cordial expression.
He took my hand and, pressing it afEectionately
between his own, said several times in a low voice:

" Captain! Captain! Captain! How good you
are! "

I found myself too much moved to speak.

"How do you find me? In a very bad way,
don't you? " he asked at last, after a long silence.

" I hope I shall see you better soon," I answered,
making an effort to control myself and hide the
emotion that mastered me.

At the same time I took the candle, and bringing
it nearer his face, pretended to examine it with
close attention.

" Do you know what ails you? " I asked. " It's
morrina ! "

"What is that?" he asked, opening his eyes
wide.

" It is an illness that attacks the Galicians when
they lose an amount exceeding fifty centimes."

I saw a smile steal over his lips and, glancing
gayly at his wife, he exclaimed:

" The same as ever! He doesn't seem to me a
bit changed — ^no! "

I understood that the kindest thing I could do
254

The Joy of Captain Ribot

at that moment was to go on joking. I plucked
up my courage and unlocked my stock of buffoon-
eries, although they can't be called very witty.
Soon I had the pleasure of hearing him laugh
heartily. His face brightened, his eyes shone; in a
few minutes we were chatting together with the
same gayety as if he were perfectly well and had
not lost a centimo of his capital.

Cristina watched us with a melancholy smile.
She was happy in seeing her husband so cheerful,
although she knew that this could not last long.

And, indeed, a violent attack of coughing soon
came to interrupt most sadly our chat. He be-
came livid and half-stifled, holding his head be-
tween his hands.

" The chill of the night air is bad for you. It
is the chill of night that brought it on, Emilio,"
said Cristina. " It is time for you to go to rest."

He lifted his hand, making lively signs of nega-
tion with it. When the attack subsided, and he
could speak, he exclaimed:

"Noj^bn't take him away from me! I feel
much better. The captain is a mouthful of oxy-
gen. He brings me the good sea air."

I stayed half an hour longer, to please him. At
last I went, not before promising to return early
the next day. I did not wish to go in that night
to pay my respects to Dona Amparo. I had already
had notice from Sabas that she had taken up a
255

The Joy of Captain Ribot

fashion lately of fainting away at sight of any
friend whatsoever. As the hour seemed to me un-
seasonable for such an organic phenomenon, I
deferred it until another more suitable.

Cristina came with me to the door.

" How do you find him? " she asked, fixing an
anxious look upon me.

" I don't find him well. But while there is life,
who knows? who knows? "

Nobody could help knowing. She also knew; but
the unhappy lady sought some way to hide the
truth from herself.

I went away with my head in a whirl, and my
heart torn and rent. The force I had used to ap-
pear cheerful upset my nerves, and I could not
sleep. Poor Marti! Never had he seemed to me
more hearty, more innocent, more worthy to be
beloved. Not one word, not the most insignificant
allusion to the treacherous actions of his friend
Castell, nor the inhuman manner in which he had
ruined him. And in the days following it was the
same. His soul not only knew how to avoid filth
like the feet of ladies, but did not believe in it.

I wrote to our shipping house to say that, for
reasons of health, I wished to stay on land during
the next voyage, and constituted myself companion
and nurse to my unfortunate friend. I was seldom
away from him. When I left him I saw a sadness
in his eyes so sincere that I wished to stay. Every
256

The Joy of Captain Ribot

day he lost strength; I saw that he grew constantly
weaker. He began to have cruel stiflings that
threatened his life. While they lasted I fanned
him, and Cristina bathed his temples. But when
he came out of these attacks like a man who has
succeeded in escaping an imminent peril and un-
expectedly finds himself safe and sound, he would
he talkative and gay, assuring us that very soon he
would be able to go out into the streets and take
up his business again.

His business! Neither illness nor ruin had been
able to uproot his passion for projects and his lik-
ing for great industrial enterprises.

" If you could guess. Captain, the idea which I
have had for days in my head! " he said to me once,
looking at me with his candid eyes and pushing
back his hair. "A grand project, and sensible,
too, at the same time. At fifteen kilometres from
Valencia there is a river that can be made to pro-
duce a waterfall of a thousand horse-power. Sup-
pose that two hundred are lost in harnessing it,
there would still be eight hundred, which, well
distributed, would move almost all the industries of
the city and give light to it all. Manufacturers
and the city would save an enormous amount, and
to become the owner of that waterfall would be a
brilliant stroke of business. Because, as you can
see "

Here he took a paper, drew out a pencil, and set
17 357

The Joy of Captain Ribot

himself to scheming with figures with as much en-
thusiasm as if the operatives were already installing
the great electric machine that was to distribute
power to all the factories of Valencia, with so many
horse-power and such and such qualities as if he
had the magazine in the house.

Cristina and I exchanged a look over his head,
and we knew not what to say. Formerly this pas-
sion had been his peril. Now it seemed to console
him. So, not to go against him, we followed his
fancy, and praised his project to the skies. This
made him so happy that his cheeks burned and his
glassy eyes shone with pleasure. Cristina could
not control her emotion, and hastily left the room.
I went on admiring the project warmly, so that he
would not notice her goiug, and went so far as to
promise to invest my small capital in the enter-
prise. With this his gayety came to an end.
Quickly changing his expression, he pressed my
hand, and, looking at me sorrowfully, exclaimed:

" No, Eibot, no! Although the affair is all plain
enough, there might be some bad luck. I will
not risk your capital! "

" There would not be any risk," I replied; " I
would gladly put it in, because it seems to me that
this is a sure thing."

" Absolutely sure! " he said, with the accent of
unquenchable conviction, which at another time
would have made me smile. "But I won't give
258

The Joy of Captain Ribot

you any shares in it until it is under way and has
begun to pay dividends."

Poor Marti! He was going fast. His cheeks
fell in, the circles under his eyes grew deeper; he
passed his nights in coughing and his days in tor-
ment between pain and choking.

The fainting fits of Dona Amparo grew con-
stantly more frequent and prolonged. Her sensi-
bility became so over-excited by this, that the
fluttering of a butterfly was enough to throw her
into a convulsion, from which she could only re-
cover by covering everybody's face, as of old, with
tears and kisses. As for me, being the friend most
often at hand, I received the greater part of these
inundations.

Sabas came every day at eleven o'clock, before
going for his usual promenade to the cafe where
he took his vermouth. If the doctor had said that
the invalid had less fever (and he often said it to
encourage him), this gave our dandy so much satis-
faction that he could not do less than celebrate by
going to breakfast at the cafe, and then go off on an
excursion with friends of both sexes.

We saw the end approaching. As the fatal hour
drew near^ EmUio showed himself less and less
apprehensive, occupying himself constantly with
making calculations and planning out new schemes.
Even in the middle of the night he would beg for
paper, and scratch down figures.
359

The Joy of Captain Ribot

" Next week I think I shall be able to be out,"
he said to me one morning. " There is nothing
ailing me now. The pain in the kidneys is all
gone; my tongue is almost clean. If this cough
that keeps me awake would only leave me, I should
be quite well. To-day I feel just like walking, like
taking a good long walk."

And he proved his words by getting up from his
chair and taking several steps.

" I am going to the dining-room," he said, open-
ing the door; " see what a surprise I am going to
give Cristina."

And he walked down the passage. I stood look-
ing at him from the threshold of his room. When
he had got about half-way, the poor fellow toppled,
and before I could get to him, fell his length upon
the floor. Several years have passed since then,
and yet they have not been able to obscure in my
soul the shamed and melancholy smUe he gave me
as I came to him.

"That's bad. Captain!"

I lifted him and carried him in my arms back
to his chair. He weighed no more than a child.
Cristina, as well as I, reproved his imprudence, but
we readily convinced him that his weakness came
from lack of nourishment. If he would eat more his
strength would increase rapidly, and we should soon
see him able to walk out in the garden as of old.

Although Cristina knew the seriousness of his
360

The Joy of Captain Ribot

condition, and made herself no illusions regarding
the outcome, I observed in her a sort of ignorance
or disregard which, at such a time, could not fail
to make me anxious. She thought certainly that
his illness was unto death, but by every word that
came from her mouth I perceived that she judged
the end to be very far off. I could see that it was
very near. And yet it was nearer than even I
supposed. On the day following- his fall in the
passage, I went to see him between ten and eleven
o'clock in the morning. Contrary to his custom,
he had not dressed. He said he found himself a
little fatigued from coughing. I cheered him up
by calling him only lazy, and sat down beside him.
I found him indeed very feeble, and looking very
much discouraged. In spite of this he was chatty
and cheerful as always. At last he decided to get
up, but before doing so we decided that he should
take a little cup of broth to give him strength.
Cristina went out to prepare it. A few moments
after, the sick man had an attack of coughing and
choking that nearly overcame him. I did not
call Cristina, not vidshing to alarm her, and began
to fan him, as usual, to give him air, hoping that
he would quickly recover. Yet, without knowing
why, I felt more disturbed than usual. My heart
beat violently, seeing that pallid face, with its
closed eyes and the opened mouth struggling for
breath. As the seconds went by, my anxiety in-
361

The Joy of Captain Ribot

creased in like measure, and I reached my hand
towards the bell-button. But at that moment
Marti opened his eyes and smiled sweetly. I calmed
myself and said:

" Now you are better! It has passed."

" Open the shutters. I can't see well," he an-
swered me. These words brought back my alarm.
The shutters were open. Yet I made a movement
to go, to please him; but as I tried to leave him, he
seized one of my hands.

" Eibot, Eibot! " he cried, gazing at me with
sightless eyes. " Do not leave me! I am dying,
do not leave me! "

He raised up, convulsively grasping my hand. His
expression changed quickly, his eyes glazed. His
head rolled about as if it would be disjointed, then
he fell heavily backward. Horror and stupefaction
kept me a moment stunned, gazing at the floor.
But recovering myself, I took his head between my
hands and held it against my breast, crying:

"Marti! my friend, my brother! Canst thou
hear? In this world of treachery there are few
men left like thee! "

And I kissed that brow where had never fallen
the shadow of a sinful thought.

At that moment a hand touched my shoulder. I
turned as if it had stabbed me and saw her eyes
straining wide with terror and her trembling form
that fell prone upon the ground.
263

CHAPTEE XVII.

IT is impossible to describe what took place in
that house upon the death of Emilio. Every-
body adored him; to all he -was like a loving father,
ready to sacrifice his own wishes for those of others.
The grief and woe of Cristina were so great that
we feared for her life. After a few days, however,
it was necessary to think about business matters.
Those of Marti were so much entangled that his
unfortunate family was likely to become quite des-
titute. The only one to call upon in regard to his
affairs, as the nearest relation, was Sabas; but this
profound person, for whom the human heart had
no hidden comers, despised the prosaic details of
existence. He lived like a god in a state of per-
petual joy, removed from the toils and anxieties
that afflict mankind. It was necessary that I grasp
the reins. I begged permission to do this, and took
hold of the work with little knowledge, but with
illimitable interest and good will. At the end of
six months of hard work, struggling with creditors,
lawyers, and clerks, I succeeded in disentangling
the snarl. The debts were all paid and a small
263

The Joy of Captain Ribot

income was rescued for Cristina, sufficient to enable
her to live comfortably but without any luxuries.
I breathed freely again, and enjoyed my success as
much as if I had brought through successfully some
gigantic undertaking.

The gratitude of Cristina was my sweetest re-
ward. In a grave and reserved way, as she did all
things, she made me understand it constantly.
This gratitude, joined to the innocent caresses of
my god-daughter, who now began to prattle, call-
ing me "Uncle Eibot," as if I were of her own
blood, fully repaid me for all my endeavors. All
that troubled me was to note with what scrupulous
care Cristina reduced the expenses of her house,
and the straits she endured. I told her this care
was exaggerated — her income would permit her a
little more leeway, but I did not succeed in making
her see it. After a while I came to understand that
her economy did not cause her the slightest pain.
I thought she rather enjoyed it, and by this means
was saving up to add to the small inheritance of
her little daughter. Later I found out, not with-
out indignation, that these savings served to sup-
port the household of her elegant brother. He had
gone on applying the scalpel to all of our actions.
Persuaded after a while that neither the kindness
of his sister nor my business ability would hence-
forth provide him with means sufficient to make
the conquest of even one single chorus girl, he
864

The Joy of Captain Ribot

decided at last to go to work, watching the bank in
a gambling club.

None of her ancient splendors seemed to be
missed by Cristina, as far as I could ascertain,
neither handsomely furnished rooms, nor carriages,
nor servants. The property at Cabanal alone ex-
cited in her a melancholy regret. Only when we
mentioned that did she become sad and pensive.
This was very natural. Her passion for the coun-
try, for a free and peaceful life was strengthened
now by the gentle memories that that estate kept
for her heart. There had fleeted the happiest hours
of her life. After I had observed this on a number
of occasions, the thought was born in my brain to
try to buy the place. I quickly thought over the
state of my property. As I was a man of few
wants, I could part with a third of what I had, and
there would still be enough left me to live upon.
As soon as I was convinced of that, every hindrance
got on my nerves. I could not rest until I had
gone to Barcelona, where lived the banker to whom
the estate had been assigned, and had had a talk
with him. Cabanal had gone at auction for eigh-
teen thousand duros. I soon saw that its present
owner would like to get it off his hands for the
same money, then his profits would not all be eaten
up in the expense of keeping up the place as it had
formerly been. At last, after several conferences
and enough bartering, we agreed upon the contract
865

The Joy of Captain Ribot

and the deeds were passed, I making him promise
to keep the transaction a secret. Then I made a
deed of gift to my god-daughter of the property.
With both documents in my pocket and with my
heart light with joy, I returned to Valencia. Be-
fore taking possession of the country house it was
necessary to buy, and instal there, furniture as
nearly as possible like that which the house had had
before. It cost me some labor, but I performed it
with inexplicable enjoyment. It is needless to say
that where I laid myself out to have everything per-
fect was in Cristina's own room — her tocador. By
means of untiring search I was able to find some of
the same pieces of furniture that had been there
before, and I bought them; others I ordered copied,
and they turned out very like. As soon as all was
ready I took possession of the place, cautioning all
persons who had served me, and the gardener, too,
not to let the matter get noised abroad before it was
time to open the house.

The birthday of my god-daughter arrived. Sev-
eral days before, I had all the furniture put in
place in the country house, and I took pains to see
that all was placed as nearly as possible as it had
been formerly. I knew so well every arrangement
of that house that it was not difficult for me to
make it look very homelike. Cristina's room took
a good deal of time, for I aspired to have it lack
not one detail. The furniture, the curtains, the
366

The Joy of Captain Ribot

articles on the dressing-table, even the coverlet on
the bed, had been restored or copied with utmost
exactness. On the birthday I carried my god-
daughter a fine toy in the morning, promising her
another for the afternoon. And for the afternoon
I invited her, with her mamma and Dona Amparo,
to take an excursion into the country, to picnic in
some secluded spot, to celebrate that memorable
date. The coachman, previously instructed by me,
drove us about for a time, then brought up in the
neighborhood of Cabanal. There I made him stop
and said:

" Senoras, I don't know whether I have com-
mitted an indiscretion. If I have, I beg your par-
don beforehand. Knowing Cristina's passion for
Cabanal, I have had our picnic prepared there. I
am a friend of Puig, who bought it, and when I
was in Barcelona he gave me permission to go into
the house, and to take as many people with me as
I liked. I repeat, you must forgive what I have
done, if you do not approve of it."

Dona Amparo declared it very nice, and was
joyful to the soul at visiting once more the place
that had always pleased her. But Cristina's face
was something to behold. She had never let me
see it so forbidding. She controlled herself, how-
ever, in sUence; and I, taking no notice of her an-
noyance, ordered the coachman to go on. The
gardener and his men played the drama of reeeiv-
367

The Joy of Captain Ribot

ing us as guests, and conducted us to a glorieta
where I had had the table spread. Before our
picnic, I invited them to take a little walk, but
Cristina refused emphatically, affirming that she
had hurt her foot. As Dona Amparo did not care
to leave her alone I went with my god-daughter;
the little one and I amused ourselves by running
and frolicking about in those shady avenues. When
we returned I observed that Cristina's eyes were
red and that her mamma was drooping with evi-
dent intentions of popping off.

But I did not care to go into any of that. Joyful
and merry as I had never been, I began to open the
baskets and distribute their contents, aided by the
little girl and the man who had brought them from
the hotel. By a great effort, and to conceal her
suffering, Cristina took a few, but very small,
mouthfuls. Dona Amparo, however, ate heartily.
But Julianita, the little one, and I knew how to do
our duty. To finish off, I opened a bottle of cham-
pagne. Then, standing up and taking my god-
daughter on one arm, I swung the glass high with
the other, exclaiming:

" To the health of Julianita! To the health of
my little girl! "

I drained the glass, then gave the baby the drops
in the bottom.

"I promised thee a present for this afternoon,
and thou shalt see that I keep my promise. Thy
268

The Joy of Captain Ribot

present is this estate, of which thou hast been de-
spoiled. I bought it for thee some days ago. Ee-
eeive it, my daughter, with this tender kiss which I
place upon thy cheek, and may heaven bless thee
with many and happy days! "

Cristina rose up fr6m the bench, pale and
trembling.

" Captain Eibot! It cannot be! " she cried in
a choking voice.

" Here is the deed of the property, and here is
the deed of gift," I answered, presenting the docu-
ments.

" But my daughter cannot accept such an enor-
mous sacrifice ! "

" I have few necessities and no near relations.
The law gives me the right to choose my heir. I
have already chosen her," I added, placing my
hand on the curly little head of my god-daughter.

She remained quiet with her eyes fixed upon the
ground. At last she went out of the glorieta, and
without opening her lips started towards the house.
I followed her at a distance, leaving the fainting
form of Dona Amparo to the care of the child and
the servant. I observed that she walked faster
and faster. When she reached the door she was
almost running. She paused a moment, kissed the
wall, and entered.

I followed her as she went about the rooms; I
heard her exclamations of delight, and even saw her
S69

The Joy of Captain Ribot

go into her own room. At sight of that, a cry
escaped her, and she fell sobbing upon the white-
wood bed.

I went over to her and said:

" This room holds yet within its walls the per-
fume of a sacred and peaceful life. The furniture
had been scattered through the city; and these
pieces, that could claim nobody as one master, on
finding themselves together again wUl speak to you,
Cristina, in the sweet and mysterious language of
their souvenirs. I consider myself happy in hav-
ing restored them, and happier yet in having
worked for so many days to arrive at this moment."

She rose from the bed, and, holding out her
hand, said to me in a trembling voice:

" Thank you, Eibot, many thanks. You are
indeed a faithful friend to us. God wUl reward
you for all the good you have done, for I can never
repay you."

I was moved to the depths of my soul by those
simple words.

" Cristina," I replied, " I accept the title that
you so nobly bestow upon me. I have been a loyal
friend to you and to Emilio; I have watched over
his interests and his honor with ceaseless care. But
I have watched over my thoughts with even more
diligence; because thoughts are restless things, and
might, against my will, go straight away and annoy
you. I have nothing to reproach myself with. I
270

The Joy of Captain Ribot

have always loved you as I love you now, with the
respect that divine beings inspire. But in spite of
all my efforts to stifle it, a strong desire lifts itself
in my soul, and I feel that I shall never find peace
if I do not suffer it to live, or at least need not kill
it. Forgive me, Cristina, for the question I am
going to ask. But may I not hope that some day
you will call me by another name than friend? "

She remained grave and silent, looking down at
the floor. Then she sat down in a chair near the
candle-stand, leaned her elbow on the little table,
and her head in her hand, and there she sat in a
thoughtful attitude. I knelt down beside her and
let myself hope.

" Get up, Eibot," she said, giving me a sad and
affectionate glance. "It causes me pain and al-
most shame to see at my feet the man who sweet-
ened the last hours of my husband, who has sacri-
ficed himself for me, and his fortune for my daugh-
ter. My heart tells me that this man should not be
refused my very life if he asks it. But do you not
think, Eibot, that there is something between us
that ought to stop us, something that would over-
shadow the happiness that you have a right to?
Eemember the circumstances when we first knew
each other. Examine the secret impulses that
brought you to this place, those that you have felt
since, your struggles, your thoughts, your joys and
pains during these three years and a half. And
271

The Joy of Captain Ribot

tell me frankly if you do not imagine that con-
science would not whisper to us that we had not
acted with perfect delicacy. I believe it would;
and I think I know you well enough to know that
it would be enough to disturb the serenity of your
life. This is what I hear speaking within my
secret heart. "While it is there, do you not think
that if we were united there might rise in our
world an infamous suspicion that would wound,
even in his grave, our cherished one? "

I understood the truth of these words and my
heart sank. The tears rushed to my eyes. I hid
my face in my hands to conceal them.

" What? Do you weep, Eibot? " she exclaimed,
leaning her head upon mine. " No, in God's name!
no, do not weep, my friend! I have no right to
cause you the slightest pain. I will do as you
wish."

I shook my head and answered:

" Let me weep for a moment. It will pass."

My tears fell abundantly. When I lifted my
head I saw that they were also streaming down her
cheeks. I stood up and, drawing out my pocket-
handkerchief, said smiling:

"Do you see! It's over! Sadness and I were
never very constant friends."

Then she took my hands and, pressing them
warmly, looked into my eyes, exclaiming:

"Yet, truly, I would not hurt you! After my
372

The Joy of Captain Ribot

husband, no man has ever inspired me with so
deep an affection! "

" These noble words not only give me strength
to live," I answered, "but they make life lovely
to me. How many times, leaning on the bridge
of my ship, I have felt happy gazing at the shining
stars! And why not now, when I can see these
sweet eyes, so frank and so serene? Let me see
them all my days, and I promise you I will always
live in joy and peace! "
18

373

CHAPTEE XVIII.

I KEPT my promise. Since then my days go
on, happy and full of peace. I fixed my resi-
dence in Alicante, but for long spaces of time, in-
deed during almost half the year, I am in Valencia.
And when I am there, I am looked upon at Cris-
tina's house not merely as a friend, but as a
member of the family. Nobody fails to show de-
light when I am seen arriving, but most of all does
my coming please my god-daughter, an enchanting
little girl of five years, with eyes as luminous as
her mother's. As soon as she hears my step, she
comes running to meet me, laughing and jumping,
throws herself upon my neck, covers me with kisses,
and pulls my beard in a way to bring tears — of
pleasure.

I can hear her voice on the stair at this mo-
ment calling:

"Uncle Eibot! Uncle Ribot! " While I stay
in Valencia she comes to the hotel for me every
morning with her nurse. We go out together. We
walk about the streets and in the Glorieta. We go
into the confectioners' shops (Julianita knows all
the best ones that are to be foxind in the Hacienda)
274

The Joy of Captain Ribot

and buy sweets. We go to the flower-market and
buy flowers. And when luncheon time comes, we
go to the house loaded with parcels and sprays
of flowers. The mamma comes and opens the door
for us. Her beautiful eyes shine with joy, and
always glisten with gratitude.

There is nothing more that I long for. Secure
in the aifection of these beings that I love, and in
my own self-respect, I watch calmly the fleeting of
the hours. Snow has begun to show slowly about
my temples, but it does not touch my heart.
Neither envy nor boredom enters it. And if, as I
have heard Castell say many times, life has no
flavor, I am persuaded that he does not know what
it can give. For me it has a delicate, exquisite
savor. I am an artist in happiness. This thought
increases my pleasures.

And when inexorable death knocks at my door
I shall not wait for him to call twice. "With firm
step and tranquU heart, I will go to meet him, and
giving him my hand say:

" I have done my duty, and I have lived happily.
Nobody has suffered because of me. Whether I
am led to a sweet eternal sleep, or to a new incarna-
tion of this impalpable force that fills me, I have no
fear. Here I am! "

But, no! it is not death that will in that moment
knock at my door. It is life, radiant, immortal,
divine! From my opened window I feel it and see
275

The Joy of Captain Ribot

it. The sun rises in the firmament and sheds its
rays upon the garden. The flowers, shining, ex-
hale their perfume. This light and these odors
intoxicate me. Everything is riant, stirring, sing-
ing, in the world that I behold from my balcony.
Beautiful is life! Her fruitful breath meets my
own softly. "What joy in the freshness of this
spriagtime morning! The birds among the boughs
sing joyfully with melodious voices in concert with
the sunbeams.

But I would not exchange all their melodious
voices for one that is now calling me impatiently
from the stairway:

" Uncle Eibot, I am waiting for you! "
" I am coming, my girlie; I am coming."

276

Press ofl. J. Little & Co.
Astor Place, New York